Bolton St Catherine's Academy

Bolton St Catherine's Academy has improved markedly after a period of staffing and leadership instability. New leadership has strengthened the curriculum, behaviour, attendance and subject leadership, and pupils are generally happy, kind and well-mannered. Behaviour and personal development are strong, early years provision is effective, and safeguarding is effective. The main concern is the quality of education. Although the curriculum is now ambitious and most pupils experience better education, older pupils still carry large learning gaps from previous weaknesses, and some pupils, including some with SEND, do not achieve as well as they should. In some subjects, activities are not well matched to pupils' needs and staff do not routinely check understanding or correct misconceptions. Some pupils also lack the support they need to become fluent readers. The specially resourced SEND provision is a notable strength. The school's personal development, careers education, attendance work and behaviour support are notable strengths, with suspensions and persistent absence falling. Inspectors ask leaders to improve task design, assessment checks and reading fluency support so that all pupils can access the ambitious curriculum successfully.

Strengths

• Pupils are kind, well-mannered and contribute to a calm school environment
• Behaviour and attitudes are good, with a rapid reduction in suspensions
• Personal development prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain
• Careers education is extensive and pupils move on to meaningful destinations
• Early years provision is good and children settle quickly through a strong induction programme
• The specially resourced SEND provision is effective and pupils achieve well
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Attendance has improved significantly, with fewer pupils persistently absent
• Pupils benefit from clubs, responsibilities, trips and residential experiences

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils, including some with SEND, do not achieve as well as they should
• Older pupils have large learning gaps caused by historic staffing instability and previous curriculum weaknesses
• In some subjects, learning activities are not matched well enough to pupils' needs
• Staff do not routinely check what pupils have learned, so errors and misconceptions persist
• Some pupils do not receive the support they need to become fluent readers
• Published attainment and progress for Year 11 pupils have been significantly below national averages for some time
• Year 6 reading attainment in 2024 was below 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 Bolton St Catherine's Academy attended 91.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 24.0% 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, 14.6% of pupils at Bolton St Catherine's Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 10 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 Bolton St Catherine's Academy had 15.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.2% 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, 21.5% of pupils at Bolton St Catherine's Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has a SEN unit with 1 pupil and resourced provision with 1 pupil.

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 Bolton St Catherine's Academy received £9,433 and spent £9,218 for each of its 1,022 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £777,000 (£760 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

Bolton St Catherine's Academy is part of The Bishop Fraser Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Canon Slade School 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 Margaret's Church of England Primary School Heywood
• St Catherine's CofE Primary School Bolton

What is Bolton St Catherine's Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bolton St Catherine's Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Bolton St Catherine's Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Bolton St Catherine's Academy was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Bolton St Catherine's Academy have?

Bolton St Catherine's Academy has 1,003 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bolton St Catherine's Academy cover?

Bolton St Catherine's Academy for pupils aged 2 to 16.

What are Bolton St Catherine's Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 36.9, and 28% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

What are Bolton St Catherine's Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 34% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bolton St Catherine's Academy?

Bolton St Catherine's Academy is at Stitch MI Lane, Bolton, BL2 4HU.