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St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy

Secondary Ages 11-16 1,023 pupils Rochdale
All schools in Rochdale

St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is an academy sponsor led in Rochdale for pupils aged 11 to 16. It has a Roman Catholic religious character. It has 1,023 pupils on roll. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 37.9, and 23% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE. Suspensions are common here, with 25.8 in every 100 pupils suspended at least once in 2024/25 (nationally, 7.3).

GCSE results: 2026.

Type Secondary / Academy sponsor led
Age Range 11-16
Religion Roman Catholic
Address Shaw Road
Thornham
Rochdale
Lancashire
OL16 4RX
Phone 01706647761
Reference Number 149873

General Makeup

Number of pupils 1023
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 48.48%
Girls: 51.52%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 43.2%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 31.1%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 23

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 90 96 186
8 101 114 215
9 89 111 200
10 115 101 216
11 101 105 206

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 51.7%
African 15.9%
Pakistani 10.4%
White, Other 6.7%
Mixed, Other 2.6%
Asian, Other 1.6%
White & Black (African) 1.4%
White & Asian 1.3%
White & Black (Caribbean) 1%
Indian 0.4%
Chinese 0.3%
Unclassified 0.3%
Caribbean 0.2%

Overall Ofsted Rating
Last Report Date This school has not had an inspection yet.
Date Report

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

  • English
  • Maths
  • 3 subjects from qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), like sciences, language and history
  • 3 more GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from a list approved by the Department for Education

Each grade a pupil gets is assigned a point score from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest). These scores are added up, with English and maths counted twice.

School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
37.9

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 22.8%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 37.1%

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

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GCSE Results

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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 104 18
Third Preference 84 4
From another Local Authority 8 3

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy had 1,058 pupils for 1,219 places. 161 places (13.2%) were unfilled.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “Rochdale Township Secondary” planning area

Rochdale counted 1,265 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 1,238 in 2031–32, down 2%.

20242025
Places 1,2191,219
Pupils 1,1141,058
Unfilled 8.6%13.2%

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 St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy attended 89.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 32.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

20242025
Authorised absence 4.1%5.4%
Unauthorised absence 8.8%5.3%
Severely absent pupils 6.4%6.2%

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, 25.8% of pupils at St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 24 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

20242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 51.6105.7
Permanent exclusions 924

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 St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy had 15.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.3% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

20252026
Pupils per adult 11.511.1
Teachers who left state teaching 7.1%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 68.5%–
Sick days per teacher 7.0–

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, 17.1% of pupils at St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Social, emotional and mental health 43 17
Speech, language and communication needs 42 11
Other difficulty or disability 49 2
Autistic spectrum disorder 17 5
Specific learning difficulty 10 1
Moderate learning difficulty 5 3
Hearing impairment 4 0
Physical disability 3 0
Vision impairment 0 2
Multi-sensory impairment 1 0
No specialist assessment of need 1 0

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 St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy received £9,457 and spent £9,000 for each of its 1,060 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £685,000 (£646 per pupil).

Across all 22 schools of St Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Academy Trust, income was £6,697 and spending £6,817 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

2025
Revenue reserve £685,000
per pupil £646
In-year balance £484,000
per pupil £457

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.

Name Distance
Thornham St. James CofE Primary School
Castleton Road, Thornham, Royton, Oldham, Lancashire, OL2 6XT
0.63 miles
Holy Family Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy
Great Gates Road, Kirkholt, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 2DA
0.63 miles
St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Balderstone
Oldham Road, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 2HB
0.74 miles
Sandbrook Community Primary School
Hartley Lane, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 2LR
1 miles
Lowerplace Primary School
Kingsway, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL16 4UU
1 miles
Fir Bank Primary School
Grasmere Road, Royton, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL2 6SJ
1.04 miles
St Peter's Church of England Primary School
Muriel Street, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL16 5JQ
1.12 miles
St Mary's CofE Primary School High Crompton
Rushcroft Road, Shaw, Oldham, Lancashire, OL2 7PP
1.23 miles
Deeplish Primary Academy
Derby Street, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 1LT
1.31 miles
Ashfield Valley Primary School
New Barn Lane, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 1TA
1.32 miles
Nuqtah Primary School
235 Ashfield Road, Rochdale, OL11 1QH
1.33 miles
Castleton Primary School
Hillcrest Road, Castleton, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 2QD
1.4 miles
St John's Church of England Primary School, Thornham
St. John's CE Primary School, Thornham Lane, St Johns School Thornham Lane, Slattocks, M24 2SB
1.41 miles
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy
Kingsway, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL16 4AW
1.43 miles
St Gabriel's Roman Catholic Primary School, Rochdale
Vicarage Road South, Castleton, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 2TN
1.46 miles
Thorp Primary School
Westerdale Drive, Royton, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL2 5TY
1.49 miles
St John's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy
Ann Street, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 1EZ
1.57 miles
Newhey Community Primary School
Hawthorn Lane, Newhey, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL16 4JX
1.64 miles
Brimrod Community Primary School
Holborn Street, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 4NB
1.69 miles
Crompton Primary School
Longfield Road, Shaw, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL2 7HD
1.73 miles
Name Distance
Kingsway Park High School
Turf Hill Road, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL16 4XA
0.94 miles
The Crompton House Church of England Academy
Rochdale Road, Shaw, Oldham, Lancashire, OL2 7HS
1.42 miles
Beech House School
184 Manchester Road, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 4JQ
1.7 miles
Brookland School
13 Newhey Road, Milnrow, Rochdale, Royton, Lancashire, OL16 3NP
1.78 miles
Hollingworth Academy
Cornfield Street, Milnrow, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL16 3DR
1.97 miles
Rochdale Sixth Form College
College Road, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL12 6HY
2.12 miles
E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy
Blackshaw Lane, Royton, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL2 6NT
2.13 miles
E-ACT the Oldham Academy North
Broadway, Royton, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL2 5BF
2.15 miles
Matthew Moss High School
Matthew Moss Lane, Marland, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 3LU
2.21 miles
North Chadderton School
Chadderton Hall Road, Chadderton, Oldham, Lancashire, OL9 0BN
2.47 miles
Hopwood Hall College
Middleton Campus, Rochdale Road, Middleton, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M24 6XH
2.51 miles
Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School
Rochdale Road, Middleton, Manchester, Lancashire, M24 2GL
2.57 miles
Rochdale Islamic Academy
Greenbank Rd, Rochdale, OL12 0HZ
2.57 miles
Rochdale Islamic Academy
36 Taylor Street, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, OL12 0HX
2.61 miles
Falinge Park High School
Falinge Road, Shawclough, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL12 6LD
2.7 miles
Oulder Hill Leadership Academy
Hudsons Walk, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 5EF
2.73 miles
Redwood
Hudsons Walk, Rochdale, OL11 5EW
2.76 miles
EdStart Schools Oldham and Rochdale
276 Maygate, Off Chadderton Way, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL9 6TR
2.83 miles
SEE (Oldham)
Argent House, Shaw Road, Oldham, OL1 4AW
2.93 miles
Healey Learning Centre
Unit 16, Hollow Works, Shawclough Road, Rochdale, OL12 6LN
2.95 miles

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

How many pupils does St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy have?

St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy has 1,023 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy cover?

St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 37.9, and 23% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy?

St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is at Shaw Road, Thornham, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL16 4RX.

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