Thornleigh Salesian College
Secondary · Voluntary aided school · Mixed · Bolton
Sharples Park, Bolton, BL1 6PQ
64
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Not judged
Graded 22/10/2024
Application demand
85%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
91.5%
24.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,574
Capacity used
Nearly full95%
1,650 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
85%
1st preference success rate
246 of 289 families who put it first got an offer
262
Places offered
748
Total applications
2.9
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 289 | 246 | ● 85% |
| 2nd preference | 254 | 14 | ● 6% |
| 3rd preference | 205 | 2 | ● 1% |
| Total | 748 | 262 | 35% |
1st preference success by year
Bolton lets families list 3 preferences. 13 applications came from outside the council area (2 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
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Michael Fitzsimons
- Address
- Sharples Park, Astley Bridge, Bolton, BL1 6PQ
- Phone
- 01204301351
- Local authority
- Bolton
- Ward / constituency
- Astley Bridge · Bolton North East
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 105264
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 29% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 9% | — | — |
| SEN support | 10% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,574 pupils · 1,650 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
22 October 2024
Full graded inspection
Not judged overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Requires improvement Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Requires improvement - 19
06 November 2019
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,383 pupils
Attendance
91.5%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.5%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
24.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.5%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
4.2%
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 | 44.8 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.22 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 45% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 64% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.86 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.90 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 45.7 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 41.1% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 68.4% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 27% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.86 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 263 | — |
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.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 36.28 | 35 |
| Average grade | B- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 13.5% | 17% |
| A-level students | 90 | — |
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 | 263 | 11% | 44% | 73% | |
| English Language | 263 | 16% | 57% | 74% | |
| English Literature | 258 | 19% | 62% | 74% | |
| Combined Science | 239 | 13% | 38% | 60% | |
| Religious Studies | 237 | 22% | 57% | 67% | |
| History | 193 | 18% | 47% | 61% | |
| Business | 82 | 13% | 52% | 67% | |
| Spanish | 67 | 18% | 46% | 67% | |
| Geography | 56 | 25% | 48% | 57% | |
| Art and Design | 42 | 29% | 64% | 83% | |
| Design & Technology | 29 | 7% | 52% | 86% | |
| Computer Science | 26 | 35% | 62% | 73% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Studies | 28 | 11% | 36% | 68% | |
| Psychology | 23 | 9% | 17% | 57% | |
| Economics | 22 | 9% | 36% | 68% | |
| Mathematics | 21 | 5% | 24% | 48% | |
| Sociology | 19 | 0% | 21% | 68% | |
| Biology | 18 | 0% | 11% | 33% | |
| History | 18 | 6% | 50% | 78% | |
| Chemistry | 14 | 0% | 29% | 64% | |
| Computer Science | 12 | 0% | 8% | 17% | |
| Geography | 10 | 10% | 40% | 50% | |
| English Language | 8 | 0% | 38% | 63% | |
| Fine Art | 7 | 14% | 29% | 57% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 11436: Thornleigh Salesian College
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 63% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 6% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 63% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
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.