Westhoughton High School
Bolton Road, Westhoughton, Bolton, BL5 3BZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Neil Coe
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Bolton West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,350
- Pupils on roll
- 1,342
- URN
- 105252
- Local authority
- Bolton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01942814122
About this school
Westhoughton High School is a community secondary school in Bolton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,342 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Urgent improvement
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: requires significant improvement.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 247 | 267 | 257 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.3 | 43.1 | 44.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.74 -0.92 to -0.56 | -0.64 -0.81 to -0.47 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 39% | 40.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 61% | 59.2% | 60.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 4.9% | 6.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Westhoughton High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Bolton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43.3 | 39.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.1 | 41.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.4 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,327 |
| 2023/24 | 1,354 |
| 2024/25 | 1,338 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Westhoughton High School compares
Westhoughton High School ranked 13th of 19 secondary schools in Bolton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.4 | 11.1% | 24.5% | 1,342 | — |
| Ladybridge High School | 41.7 | 7.9% | 37% | 1,136 | 2.1 miles |
| Atherton High School | 39.3 | 8.9% | 47.2% | 561 | 2.1 miles |
| Outwood Academy Hindley | 40 | 10.6% | 35% | 908 | 2.2 miles |
| The Westleigh School | 36.4 | 10.2% | 44.8% | 976 | 2.4 miles |
| St Joseph's RC High School | 44.8 | 7.2% | 22.3% | 1,047 | 2.7 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 24.51%
- English as an additional language
- 5.3%
- Overall absence
- 11.14%
- Persistent absence
- 31.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ladybridge High School2.1 miles
Secondary · Bolton
-
Atherton High School2.1 miles
Secondary · Atherton
-
Outwood Academy Hindley2.2 miles
Secondary · Wigan
-
The Westleigh School2.4 miles
Secondary · Leigh
-
St Joseph's RC High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Bolton
Other schools in Bolton
Westhoughton High School ranks 13th of the 19 ranked secondary schools in Bolton.
- Bolton Muslim Girls School Secondary
- Canon Slade School Secondary
- Eden Boys' School, Bolton Secondary
- Essa Academy Secondary
- Harper Green School Secondary
- Kearsley Academy Secondary
- King's Leadership Academy Bolton Secondary
- Ladybridge High School Secondary
- Little Lever School Secondary
- Mount St Joseph RC High School a Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Rivington and Blackrod High School Secondary
- Sharples School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Westhoughton High School teach?
- Westhoughton High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bolton.
- Who is the headteacher of Westhoughton High School?
- The headteacher of Westhoughton High School is Mr Neil Coe, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Westhoughton High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Westhoughton High School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Westhoughton High School?
- Westhoughton High School has 1,342 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Westhoughton High School full?
- Westhoughton High School has capacity for 1,350 pupils and 1,342 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Westhoughton High School a faith school?
- No. Westhoughton High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Westhoughton High School a selective school?
- No. Westhoughton High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Westhoughton High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.3 in 2022/23 and 44.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Westhoughton High School rank locally?
- Westhoughton High School ranked 13th of 19 secondary schools in Bolton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Westhoughton High School's absence rate?
- Westhoughton High School's overall absence rate is 11.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Westhoughton High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Westhoughton High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 15 July 2026.