Canon Slade School

Canon Slade School is a large 11–18 Church of England academy within The Bishop Fraser Trust. Inspectors found the school performing well across all judged areas, with positive relationships, mutual respect and a caring culture helping pupils feel known and happy. Pupils engage well in lessons, behaviour is typically good, and students in the sixth form value the pastoral support and wider opportunities available to them. The school provides a broad, ambitious curriculum and has taken effective action with trust support to improve quality of education since its previous inspection. Pupils, including those with SEND, generally meet the school's high expectations, and reading support and inclusion provision are particular strengths. Personal development is also strong, with a well-developed careers programme and a wide range of enrichment activities. The main area for improvement is assessment. Some staff do not use the school's assessment strategies effectively enough to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge, meaning misconceptions can go unaddressed before learning moves on. The proportion of pupils studying the English Baccalaureate suite is also lower than the national average, although the school has taken action to address this. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Positive relationships and mutual respect are central to the school's culture.
• Pupils feel known and understood as individuals despite the school's large size.
• Pupils engage positively in lessons and learning is rarely disrupted.
• The school offers a wealth of lunchtime and extracurricular opportunities.
• Sixth-form students benefit from strong pastoral support and leadership opportunities.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and includes subjects such as Latin and geology.
• Curriculum planning is well organised and builds logically from Year 7 to Year 13.
• Staff use strong subject knowledge and enthusiasm to enthuse pupils.
• Training to support pupils with SEND has been effective, and these pupils achieve highly.
• Support for pupils who struggle with reading is strong and highly effective.
• The inclusion hub provides valuable emotional and additional-needs support.
• Most pupils are courteous, considerate and attend frequently.
• Personal development is catered for very well, including through pupil leadership and anti-racism work.
• The careers programme is interwoven from Year 7 and helps pupils make informed choices.
• Staff feel well supported, and changes such as the feedback policy have reduced workload.
• Trust and governance oversight have been strengthened.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some staff do not use assessment strategies effectively to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge.
• At times, pupils' misconceptions or missing knowledge go unaddressed before learning moves on.
• Assessment checks are not consistently effective in the sixth form either.
• The proportion of pupils studying the English Baccalaureate suite is lower than the national average.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Canon Slade School attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 14.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 3.4% of pupils at Canon Slade School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Canon Slade School had 16.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.3% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 8.2% of pupils at Canon Slade School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Canon Slade School received £7,262 and spent £7,306 for each of its 1,748 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,335,000 (£764 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of The Bishop Fraser Trust, income was £7,941 and spending £7,851 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bolton · Bolton local authority: places and applications

Canon Slade School is part of The Bishop Fraser Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Bolton St Catherine's Academy Bolton
• Walmsley CofE Primary School Bolton
• Turton and Edgworth CofE/Methodist Primary School Bolton
• St James's Church of England High School Bolton
• Bury Church of England High School Bury
• St Catherine's CofE Primary School Bolton
• St Margaret's Church of England Primary School Heywood

What is Canon Slade School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Canon Slade School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Canon Slade School last inspected by Ofsted?

Canon Slade School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Canon Slade School have?

Canon Slade School has 1,724 pupils on roll.

What age range does Canon Slade School cover?

Canon Slade School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Canon Slade School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 54.0, and 63% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Canon Slade School?

Canon Slade School is at Bradshaw Brow, Bradshaw, Bolton, Lancashire, BL2 3BP.