Academy converter

Bolton St Catherine's Academy

Mixed · ages 2–16 · Church of EnglandBolton, North West · Bolton BL2 4HUTrust: The Bishop Fraser TrustSchool website
Pupils on roll
1,003of 1,130 places
Free school meals
52.7%
Year 11 cohort 2025
138
Ofsted
Inspected, 11 March 2025Read the Ofsted report

Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Bolton St Catherine's Academy (URN 135981, until 31 January 2018).

What the data says

Of the 148 pupils who finished Year 11 at Bolton St Catherine's Academy in 2023, 19% moved to a sixth form college, 53% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.

16% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.

GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 34.3 against 46.1 across England and 45.7 in Bolton, with 19% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).

Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 28% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils 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.

This school
Bolton
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureThis schoolBoltonEngland
Pupils in the cohort1483,886607,348
Any sustained destination78%90%92%
Stayed in education73%84%86%
— school sixth form1%12%34%
— sixth form college19%25%13%
— further education college53%45%37%
— other education0%2%2%
Apprenticeship2%3%3%
Employment3%3%3%
No sustained destination16%7%6%
Destination unknown7%3%3%

GCSE results 2025

MeasureThis schoolBoltonEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)34.345.746.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths19%44%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths46%65%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects8%33%41%
EBacc average point score2.893.954.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort52%32%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils30.936.634.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils37.949.850.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language19%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.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
English Language138100%89%8%20%51%
Mathematics138100%88%1%22%56%
English Literature13598%86%7%21%50%
Combined Science12087%65%1%9%30%
Geography7454%41%8%25%47%
History7252%41%13%26%53%
Business Studies4029%18%3%20%35%
Art and Design3828%7%13%24%71%
Drama1813%7%0%27%56%
Biology1612%23%6%45%69%
Chemistry1511%23%7%47%87%
Physics1511%23%7%46%87%
Design and Technology1410%11%0%23%14%
Fine Art118%9%0%28%45%
Music107%5%0%33%80%
French86%18%13%29%100%
Italian11%0%53%
Spanish11%19%27%
Citizenship Studies11%3%19%
Portuguese11%0%50%
Polish11%1%84%

Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Sports / Movement Science35
Computer Appreciation / Introduction26
Hospitality / Catering Studies25
Health Studies18
Beauty Care / Services17
Tourism14
Engineering Studies14

Other secondary schools in Bolton

Canon Slade School

Academy converter · sixth form · 1,724 pupils

91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 53.9

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

Kearsley Academy

Academy sponsor led · 768 pupils

80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 51.8

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.