St James's Church of England High School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Bolton
Lucas Road, Bolton, BL4 9RU
68
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 02/11/2022
Application demand
55%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
93.5%
16.6% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,053
Capacity used
Over capacity100%
1,050 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
55%
1st preference success rate
196 of 359 families who put it first got an offer
200
Places offered
806
Total applications
4.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 359 | 196 | ● 55% |
| 2nd preference | 309 | 3 | ● 1% |
| 3rd preference | 137 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Later preferences | 1 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 806 | 199 | 25% |
1st preference success by year
Bolton lets families list 3 preferences. 102 applications came from outside the council area (22 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
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Catherine Anderson
- Address
- Lucas Road, Farnworth, Bolton, BL4 9RU
- Phone
- 01204333000
- Local authority
- Bolton
- Ward / constituency
- Farnworth South · Bolton South and Walkden
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 144046
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 20% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 11% | — | — |
| SEN support | 10% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE BISHOP FRASER TRUST
1,053 pupils · 1,050 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 22
02 November 2022
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessPersonal development Outstanding Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,081 pupils
Attendance
93.5%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
6.5%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
16.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.2%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.9%
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 | 47.9 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.07 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 49% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 69% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.17 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 53.5 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 57.5% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 81.6% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 38.2% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.69 | 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 | 202 | 24% | 65% | 85% | |
| English Language | 202 | 30% | 68% | 83% | |
| English Literature | 201 | 29% | 66% | 85% | |
| Religious Studies | 199 | 38% | 76% | 84% | |
| Combined Science | 140 | 9% | 46% | 71% | |
| Geography | 119 | 36% | 68% | 81% | |
| History | 90 | 36% | 66% | 80% | |
| Social Studies | 70 | 50% | 70% | 86% | |
| Biology | 60 | 62% | 98% | 100% | |
| Physics | 60 | 45% | 88% | 95% | |
| Chemistry | 60 | 43% | 92% | 100% | |
| Art and Design | 55 | 33% | 69% | 80% |
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.