Bury Church of England High School

Bury Church of England High School is a smaller-than-average Church of England secondary school in The Bishop Fraser Trust, with a new headteacher appointed in April 2026 and a recent section 5 inspection. Safeguarding standards are met, and leaders have established an open safeguarding culture. The school is performing well overall, with personal development and wellbeing judged strong and the other main areas—achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance—meeting expected standards. Inspectors found much to praise. Pupils are happy, safe and behave calmly; relationships with staff are positive and bullying is rare. Personal development is a standout, with a rich programme, strong pastoral care and mental health support, broad extra-curricular opportunities, and effective careers guidance. Leaders have improved curriculum ambition and use targeted support well for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND; disadvantaged pupils' GCSE English and maths outcomes are above national averages, and destinations after 16 are well above national. Staff feel supported, and governors provide effective support and challenge. The main concerns are the consistency of teaching and attendance for pupils with SEND. In some lessons, pupils do not recall prior learning well and teachers do not spot misconceptions quickly enough, so mistakes can be repeated. Although overall attendance is close to average, attendance for pupils with SEND remains below national averages, and leaders are working with families to address barriers. Progress 8 in 2023/24 was below national average, and the next steps focus on strengthening teaching consistency and improving attendance, particularly for SEND pupils.

Strengths

• Personal development and wellbeing are a clear strength, with a thoughtful, well-planned programme.
• Pastoral care is personalised, highly effective and provides timely mental health and specialist support.
• Pupils feel happy, safe and well supported, with positive relationships with staff.
• Pupils behave calmly and respectfully; bullying is rare and dealt with swiftly.
• Leaders have improved the ambition and logical sequencing of the curriculum.
• Reading is prioritised, and pupils at the earliest stages of reading get support to catch up quickly.
• Targeted support helps disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND to achieve well.
• Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE outcomes are above national averages.
• Destinations after 16 are above national averages.
• Inclusion work is effective, with barriers identified and additional funding used well.
• Leaders and governors have a secure understanding of strengths and development priorities.
• Staff feel supported with workload, wellbeing and professional development.
• A broad extra-curricular offer and leadership opportunities build confidence and teamwork.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding.
• The school has effective relationships with parents and carers.
• Attendance strategies have had a positive impact for many pupils with low attendance.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching is not consistently strong across the school.
• Pupils do not always recall prior learning, so they cannot always connect current and prior learning.
• Teachers do not always identify misconceptions swiftly enough, allowing mistakes to go unnoticed and repeated.
• Attendance for pupils with SEND remains below national averages.
• Some pupils with SEND do not attend school as regularly as they could.
• Progress 8 was below national average in 2023/24.
• Leaders need to continue developing strategies to improve attendance, particularly for pupils with SEND.
• Leaders need to continue strengthening the consistency of teaching so pupils can learn the ambitious curriculum and achieve well.

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 Bury Church of England High School attended 91.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 20.8% 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, 8.6% of pupils at Bury Church of England High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 Bury Church of England High School had 19.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 34.2% 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, 15.6% of pupils at Bury Church of England High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.5% 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 Bury Church of England High School received £7,807 and spent £7,487 for each of its 828 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,475,000 (£1,781 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.

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

Bury Church of England High School is part of The Bishop Fraser Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

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

What is Bury Church of England High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bury Church of England High School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Bury Church of England High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bury Church of England High School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Bury Church of England High School have?

Bury Church of England High School has 802 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bury Church of England High School cover?

Bury Church of England High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Bury Church of England High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 51.5, and 60% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Bury Church of England High School?

Bury Church of England High School is at Haslam Brow, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 0TS.