Wardle Academy
Birch Road, Wardle, Rochdale, OL12 9RD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- WATERGROVE TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr James Glennie
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Watergrove Trust
- Constituency
- Rochdale
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,366
- URN
- 140055
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01706373911
About this school
Wardle Academy is a secondary academy in Rochdale. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,366 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Wardle Academy, 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 20 October 2022, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 226 | 253 | 233 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.5 | 40.2 | 44.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.20 -0.39 to -0.01 | -0.49 -0.67 to -0.31 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 30.4% | 39.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59% | 53.8% | 62.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 63% | 43.9% | 38.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.9 |
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 Wardle Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Rochdale average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.5 | 36.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.2 | 37.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.1 | 34.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,296 |
| 2023/24 | 1,366 |
| 2024/25 | 1,364 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Wardle Academy compares
Wardle Academy ranked 3rd of 11 secondary schools in Rochdale for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.1 | 9% | 29.9% | 1,366 | — |
| Falinge Park High School | — | 10.3% | 45.8% | 1,344 | 2.1 miles |
| Whitworth Community High School | 50.3 | 5.9% | 24.4% | 654 | 2.5 miles |
| Hollingworth Academy | 51.1 | 7.4% | 29.7% | 1,331 | 2.5 miles |
| Kingsway Park High School | 35.3 | 9.8% | 50% | 1,289 | 2.7 miles |
| Oulder Hill Leadership Academy | 44.4 | 8.6% | 38.5% | 1,152 | 3.0 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)
- 29.91%
- English as an additional language
- 10.2%
- Overall absence
- 8.97%
- Persistent absence
- 27.11%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Falinge Park High School2.1 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
-
Whitworth Community High School2.5 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
-
Hollingworth Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
-
Kingsway Park High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
-
Oulder Hill Leadership Academy3.0 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
Other schools in Rochdale
Wardle Academy ranks 4th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Rochdale.
- Falinge Park High School Secondary
- Hollingworth Academy Secondary
- Kingsway Park High School Secondary
- Matthew Moss High School Secondary
- Oulder Hill Leadership Academy Secondary
- St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Whitworth Community High School Secondary
- Howard Street Nursery School Nursery
- Alice Ingham Roman Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Primary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School Primary
- Ashfield Valley Primary School Primary
- Belfield Community School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Wardle Academy teach?
- Wardle Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Rochdale.
- Who is the headteacher of Wardle Academy?
- The headteacher of Wardle Academy is Mr James Glennie, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Wardle Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Wardle Academy, 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 Wardle Academy?
- Wardle Academy has 1,366 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Wardle Academy full?
- Wardle Academy has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,366 on roll (114%), 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 Wardle Academy a faith school?
- No. Wardle Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Wardle Academy a selective school?
- No. Wardle Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Wardle Academy part of an academy trust?
- Wardle Academy is part of WATERGROVE TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Wardle Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.5 in 2022/23 and 44.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Wardle Academy compare with other schools in Rochdale?
- Wardle Academy ranked 3rd of 11 secondary schools in Rochdale for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Wardle Academy's absence rate?
- Wardle Academy's overall absence rate is 9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Wardle Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Wardle Academy'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.