Bolton Muslim Girls School
Academy converter · 774 pupils
90% stayed in education · Attainment 8 54.7
Academy converter
Sharples School
- Pupils on roll
- 1,214of 1,080 places
- Free school meals
- 27.5%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 247
- Ofsted
- Improved significantly, 8 January 2025Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Sharples School Science Specialist College (URN 105259, until 1 September 2015).
What the data says
Sharples School has no sixth form. Of the 230 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 42% moved to a sixth form college, 38% to a further education college and 1% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 42% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
GCSE results in 2025 were well above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 55.6 against 46.1 across England and 45.7 in Bolton, with 62% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Almost nobody goes straight into an apprenticeship or a job: 1% took an apprenticeship and 3% went into work, against 3% and 3% across England.
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Bolton and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Sharples School | Bolton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 230 | 3,886 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 93% | 90% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 89% | 84% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 9% | 12% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 42% | 25% | 13% |
| — further education college | 38% | 45% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 5% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 2% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Sharples School | Bolton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 55.6 | 45.7 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 62% | 44% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 82% | 65% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 29% | 33% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.73 | 3.95 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 30% | 32% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 43.1 | 36.6 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 61.0 | 49.8 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 41% | 29% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 246 | 100% | 88% | 23% | 22% | 85% |
| English Language | 246 | 100% | 89% | 31% | 20% | 84% |
| English Literature | 229 | 93% | 86% | 44% | 21% | 93% |
| Combined Science | 204 | 83% | 65% | 10% | 9% | 76% |
| Geography | 103 | 42% | 41% | 22% | 25% | 73% |
| Religious Studies | 99 | 40% | 31% | 53% | 32% | 93% |
| History | 94 | 38% | 41% | 35% | 26% | 79% |
| Spanish | 61 | 25% | 19% | 43% | 27% | 79% |
| Statistics | 42 | 17% | 5% | 36% | 20% | 100% |
| Physics | 41 | 17% | 23% | 83% | 46% | 100% |
| Chemistry | 41 | 17% | 23% | 90% | 47% | 100% |
| Biology | 41 | 17% | 23% | 80% | 45% | 100% |
| Computer Science | 39 | 16% | 13% | 26% | 30% | 85% |
| French | 39 | 16% | 18% | 51% | 29% | 97% |
| Design and Technology | 38 | 15% | 11% | 39% | 23% | 84% |
| Business Studies | 28 | 11% | 18% | 21% | 20% | 93% |
| Fine Art | 27 | 11% | 9% | 30% | 28% | 93% |
| Photography | 23 | 9% | 6% | 26% | 19% | 91% |
| Chinese | 8 | 3% | 1% | 100% | 75% | 100% |
| Astronomy | 5 | 2% | 0% | — | 29% | — |
| Urdu | 3 | 1% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Arabic | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Studies | 99 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 60 | — | — |
| Animal Care (Non-Agricultural) | 46 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 42 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 31 | — | — |
| Childcare Skills | 14 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Bolton
Bolton St Catherine's Academy
Academy converter · 1,003 pupils
73% stayed in education · Attainment 8 34.3
Canon Slade School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,724 pupils
91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 53.9
Eden Boys' School, Bolton
Free schools · 621 pupils
94% stayed in education · Attainment 8 53.0
Essa Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,055 pupils
91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 53.0
Harper Green School
Academy converter · 1,070 pupils
77% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.8
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.