Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College
Urban Road, Altrincham, WA15 8HT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mrs Clare Hogg
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Shrewsbury
- Constituency
- Altrincham and Sale West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,700
- Pupils on roll
- 1,638
- URN
- 106376
- Local authority
- Trafford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01617686030
About this school
Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Altrincham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,638 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 281 | 269 | 261 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.1 | 50.5 | 48.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.20 +0.03 to +0.37 | +0.23 +0.06 to +0.40 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 46% | 53.2% | 42.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 80.3% | 66.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 12.3% | 9.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
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 Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Trafford average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47.1 | 50.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.5 | 51.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.9 | 51.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,585 |
| 2023/24 | 1,593 |
| 2024/25 | 1,614 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College compares
Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College ranked 11th of 18 secondary schools in Trafford for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 72% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.9 | 7.8% | 14.8% | 1,638 | — |
| Wellington School | 57.3 | 6.6% | 11.3% | 1,536 | 0.5 miles |
| North Cestrian School | 54.2 | 7.9% | 17.8% | 799 | 0.6 miles |
| Loreto Grammar School | 73.7 | 3.9% | 5.5% | 1,075 | 0.7 miles |
| Altrincham College | 48.5 | 7.4% | 29.4% | 973 | 0.7 miles |
| Altrincham Grammar School for Boys | 78.5 | 4.5% | 5.7% | 1,432 | 0.9 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 14.81%
- English as an additional language
- 10.7%
- Overall absence
- 7.83%
- Persistent absence
- 21.65%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Wellington School0.5 miles
Secondary · Altrincham
-
North Cestrian School0.6 miles
Secondary · Altrincham
-
Loreto Grammar School0.7 miles
Secondary · Altrincham
-
Altrincham College0.7 miles
Secondary · Altrincham
-
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys0.9 miles
Secondary · Altrincham
Other schools in Altrincham
Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College ranks 7th of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Altrincham.
- Altrincham College Secondary
- Altrincham Grammar School for Boys Secondary
- Altrincham Grammar School for Girls Secondary
- Loreto Grammar School Secondary
- North Cestrian School Secondary
- Saint Ambrose College Secondary
- Wellington School Secondary
- Altrincham CofE (Aided) Primary School Primary
- Bollin Primary School Primary
- Bowdon CofE Primary School Primary
- Broadheath Primary School Primary
- Broomwood Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College teach?
- Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Altrincham.
- Who is the headteacher of Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College?
- The headteacher of Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College is Mrs Clare Hogg, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College, 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 Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College?
- Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College has 1,638 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College full?
- Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College has capacity for 1,700 pupils and 1,638 on roll (96%), 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 Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College a faith school?
- Yes. Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Shrewsbury.
- Is Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College a selective school?
- No. Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.1 in 2022/23 and 48.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College rank locally?
- Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College ranked 11th of 18 secondary schools in Trafford for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 72% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College's absence rate?
- Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College's overall absence rate is 7.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College'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.