The Bolsover School
Mooracre Lane, Bolsover, Chesterfield, S44 6XA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- REDHILL ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Matthew Hall
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Redhill Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Bolsover
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 850
- Pupils on roll
- 911
- URN
- 138836
- Local authority
- Derbyshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01246822105
About this school
The Bolsover School is a secondary academy in Chesterfield. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 911 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
- 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 | 166 | 169 | 150 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.3 | 41.4 | 45.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.09 -0.33 to +0.14 | -0.32 -0.53 to -0.10 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 39.6% | 42.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63% | 60.9% | 72% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 48% | 23.1% | 50.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
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 Bolsover 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 | Derbyshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.3 | 41.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.4 | 41.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45 | 40.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 855 |
| 2023/24 | 883 |
| 2024/25 | 908 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Bolsover School compares
The Bolsover School ranked 19th of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45 | 8.5% | 38.8% | 911 | — |
| Shirebrook Academy | 39.5 | 9.5% | 43.7% | 824 | 2.3 miles |
| Heritage High School | 40 | 8.2% | 38.9% | 940 | 3.5 miles |
| Netherthorpe School | 42.1 | 11.9% | 42.5% | 973 | 3.9 miles |
| Springwell Community College | 37.9 | 9.8% | 43.6% | 836 | 4.1 miles |
| The Manor Academy | 39.8 | 9.7% | 30.9% | 1,204 | 5.3 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)
- 38.77%
- English as an additional language
- 2.9%
- Overall absence
- 8.45%
- Persistent absence
- 24.76%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Shirebrook Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Mansfield
-
Heritage High School3.5 miles
Secondary · Chesterfield
-
Netherthorpe School3.9 miles
Secondary · Chesterfield
-
Springwell Community College4.1 miles
Secondary · Chesterfield
-
The Manor Academy5.3 miles
Secondary · Mansfield
Other schools in Chesterfield
The Bolsover School ranks 5th of the 11 ranked secondary schools in Chesterfield.
- Brookfield Community School Secondary
- Heritage High School Secondary
- Netherthorpe School Secondary
- Outwood Academy Hasland Hall Secondary
- Outwood Academy Newbold Secondary
- Parkside Community School Secondary
- Springwell Community College Secondary
- St Mary's Catholic High School, A Catholic Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Tupton Hall School Secondary
- Whittington Green School Secondary
- Abercrombie Primary School Primary
- Arkwright Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Bolsover School teach?
- The Bolsover School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Chesterfield.
- Who is the headteacher of The Bolsover School?
- The headteacher of The Bolsover School is Mr Matthew Hall, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Bolsover School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Bolsover 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 The Bolsover School?
- The Bolsover School has 911 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Bolsover School full?
- The Bolsover School has capacity for 850 pupils and 911 on roll (107%), 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 Bolsover School a faith school?
- No. The Bolsover School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Bolsover School a selective school?
- No. The Bolsover School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Bolsover School?
- The Bolsover School is part of REDHILL ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Bolsover School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.3 in 2022/23 and 45 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 Bolsover School rank locally?
- The Bolsover School ranked 19th of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% 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 Bolsover School's absence rate?
- The Bolsover School's overall absence rate is 8.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Bolsover School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Bolsover 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 1 July 2026.