The Elton High School
Walshaw Road, Bury, BL8 1RN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Jonathan Wilton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Bury North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,000
- Pupils on roll
- 1,017
- URN
- 105354
- Local authority
- Bury
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01617631434
About this school
The Elton High School is a community secondary school in Bury. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,017 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Elton High School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 196 | 210 | 196 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.0 | 45.8 | 44.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.50 -0.70 to -0.30 | -0.24 -0.43 to -0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 44.3% | 37.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 64.8% | 65.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 18% | 21.4% | 17.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
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 The Elton 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 | Bury average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43 | 40.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.8 | 38.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.3 | 37.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,027 |
| 2023/24 | 1,040 |
| 2024/25 | 1,025 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Elton High School compares
The Elton High School ranked 7th of 11 secondary schools in Bury for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.3 | 7.9% | 22.2% | 1,017 | — |
| Tottington High School | 34.9 | 12.3% | 29.5% | 811 | 0.9 miles |
| St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy | 46 | 8.5% | 24.7% | 1,027 | 1.2 miles |
| Bury Church of England High School | 49.1 | 8.4% | 22% | 802 | 1.4 miles |
| The Derby High School | — | — | — | — | 1.5 miles |
| Hazel Wood High School | 35.7 | 10.4% | 55.6% | 671 | 2.3 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)
- 22.24%
- English as an additional language
- 7.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.91%
- Persistent absence
- 23.13%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Tottington High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Bury
-
St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Bury
-
Bury Church of England High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Bury
-
The Derby High School1.5 miles
Secondary · Lancs
-
Hazel Wood High School2.3 miles
Secondary · Bury
Other schools in Bury
The Elton High School ranks 5th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Bury.
- Bury Church of England High School Secondary
- Hazel Wood High School Secondary
- St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Tottington High School Secondary
- Unsworth Academy Secondary
- Woodhey High School Secondary
- Hoyle Nursery School Nursery
- Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School Primary
- Chantlers Primary School Primary
- Chesham Primary Academy Primary
- Christ Church CofE Primary School Primary
- East Ward Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Elton High School teach?
- The Elton High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bury.
- Who is the headteacher of The Elton High School?
- The headteacher of The Elton High School is Mr Jonathan Wilton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Elton High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Elton 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 many pupils are at The Elton High School?
- The Elton High School has 1,017 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Elton High School full?
- The Elton High School has capacity for 1,000 pupils and 1,017 on roll (102%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Elton High School a faith school?
- No. The Elton High School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Elton High School a selective school?
- No. The Elton High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have The Elton High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43 in 2022/23 and 44.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Elton High School compare with other schools in Bury?
- The Elton High School ranked 7th of 11 secondary schools in Bury for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Elton High School's absence rate?
- The Elton High School's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Elton High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Elton 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 29 June 2026.