St Joseph's RC High School
Secondary · Voluntary aided school · Mixed · Bolton
Sefton Lane, Bolton, BL6 6HW
66
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Not judged
Graded 18/03/2025
Application demand
96%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
92.8%
21.3% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,047
Capacity used
Over capacity100%
1,050 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
96%
1st preference success rate
201 of 209 families who put it first got an offer
212
Places offered
516
Total applications
2.4
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 209 | 201 | ● 96% |
| 2nd preference | 225 | 7 | ● 3% |
| 3rd preference | 80 | 3 | ● 4% |
| Later preferences | 2 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 516 | 211 | 41% |
1st preference success by year
Bolton lets families list 3 preferences. 72 applications came from outside the council area (26 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- A McCabe
- Address
- Sefton Lane, Horwich, Bolton, BL6 6HW
- Phone
- 01204697456
- Local authority
- Bolton
- Ward / constituency
- Horwich South & Blackrod · Bolton West
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 105262
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 22% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 16% | — | — |
| SEN support | 7% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,047 pupils · 1,050 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
18 March 2025
Full graded inspection
Not judged overall effectivenessPersonal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,081 pupils
Attendance
92.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
21.3%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
1.1%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.2%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 45.9 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.14 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 53% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 74% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.99 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 44.8 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 49.8% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 70% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 41.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.99 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 207 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 203 | 17% | 59% | 77% | |
| English Language | 203 | 12% | 54% | 72% | |
| Religious Studies | 203 | 13% | 42% | 58% | |
| English Literature | 200 | 15% | 61% | 81% | |
| Combined Science | 173 | 1% | 25% | 53% | |
| Geography | 113 | 19% | 44% | 64% | |
| History | 105 | 16% | 43% | 57% | |
| Spanish | 71 | 20% | 56% | 70% | |
| Art and Design | 46 | 15% | 33% | 48% | |
| Design & Technology | 38 | 16% | 26% | 45% | |
| Biology | 31 | 39% | 90% | 97% | |
| Physics | 31 | 35% | 90% | 97% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Bolton council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.