Edgar Wood Academy

Edgar Wood Academy is a growing secondary school within the Altus Education Partnership trust, serving a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils, and its current Year 11 is the first cohort to go through the school. Inspectors found the school meeting expected standards across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development, with safeguarding standards met. Leaders have stabilised staffing after a period of turbulence, improved the curriculum and behaviour, and created a calm, orderly environment where pupils increasingly attend, behave well and value their education. Pupils typically progress well, including those with additional barriers, and the school's work to improve reading and mathematics is particularly effective. There are clear strengths in leadership, inclusion, personal development and staff morale. Leaders know the school accurately, governance and trust support are effective, and pupils feel safe, listened to and a sense of belonging. Attendance is rising and suspensions have fallen notably. However, overall attendance is still not high enough, and persistent absence, while improving, remains above national averages. Support for writing and handwriting is at an earlier stage, with some pupils not receiving timely help. Assessment is not yet used consistently to adapt teaching, so some misunderstandings are not addressed swiftly. A few parents remain concerned about whether improvements will be sustained. The next steps focus on embedding assessment, handwriting and attendance strategies.

Strengths

• Pupils typically progress well through the curriculum and produce high-quality work.
• Pupils with additional barriers, including SEND and disadvantaged pupils, benefit from effective support.
• Leaders have prepared the first Year 11 cohort well for GCSE examinations through training and support.
• Reading and mathematics support is particularly effective.
• Attendance is rising and persistent absenteeism has fallen markedly.
• The attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND is in line with national averages for those groups.
• A calm and orderly environment has been established, with a noteworthy reduction in suspensions.
• Pupils enjoy school, value their education and behave respectfully in lessons.
• Bullying and discriminatory language are resolved decisively by staff.
• Staffing has been stabilised and teaching is typically effective despite many new staff.
• The curriculum has been reviewed and is ambitious and logically ordered, with the 'Edgar Wood Way' embedded.
• Leaders have a highly accurate understanding of teaching quality and school priorities.
• Inclusion is a priority, and pupils feel known, valued and a deep sense of belonging.
• Governance and trust support provide clear support and effective challenge.
• Staff are overwhelmingly positive about working at the school and appreciate improvements to workload and wellbeing.
• Personal development is comprehensive, including PSHE, extracurricular activities and careers guidance.
• Pupils have opportunities to take on leadership roles and influence school change.
• Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe.

Areas for Improvement

• Overall rates of attendance are still not high enough, and some pupils do not attend school as often as they should.
• Persistent absence remains above national averages, although it is improving.
• Strategies for improving pupils' writing and handwriting are at an earlier stage.
• Some pupils have not received timely help to secure their writing knowledge.
• Some staff do not adjust their teaching in response to assessment checks, so misunderstandings are not always addressed swiftly.
• A few parents remain concerned about some aspects of provision and whether improvements will be sustained.

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 Edgar Wood Academy attended 90.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.7% 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, 18.2% of pupils at Edgar Wood Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 8 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 Edgar Wood Academy had 13.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.8% 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, 16.9% of pupils at Edgar Wood Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.3% 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 Edgar Wood Academy received £7,473 and spent £9,160 for each of its 640 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £723,000 (£1,129 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Altus Education Partnership, income was £5,944 and spending £7,010 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 Heywood · Rochdale local authority: places and applications

Edgar Wood Academy is part of Altus Education Partnership, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• Bamford Academy Manchester
• Caldershaw Primary School Rochdale
• Rochdale Sixth Form College Rochdale
• Kingsway Park High School Rochdale

What is Edgar Wood Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Edgar Wood Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Edgar Wood Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Edgar Wood Academy was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Edgar Wood Academy have?

Edgar Wood Academy has 729 pupils on roll.

What age range does Edgar Wood Academy cover?

Edgar Wood Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Edgar Wood Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.4, and 32% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Edgar Wood Academy?

Edgar Wood Academy is at Heywood Old Road, Heywood, OL10 2QN.