Smithills School
Smithills Dean Road, Bolton, BL1 6JS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE BOLTON IMPACT TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Carolyn Dewse
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Bolton Impact Trust
- Constituency
- Bolton West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,250
- Pupils on roll
- 1,203
- URN
- 140500
- Local authority
- Bolton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01204842382
About this school
Smithills School is a secondary academy in Bolton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,203 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 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
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Needs attention
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 171 | 207 | 234 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.9 | 39.5 | 36.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.34 -0.57 to -0.11 | -0.04 -0.25 to +0.18 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 27% | 29.5% | 20.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 47% | 51.2% | 47% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 35% | 31.4% | 32.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
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 Smithills 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 | 38.9 | 39.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.5 | 41.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 36.5 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,104 |
| 2023/24 | 1,190 |
| 2024/25 | 1,201 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Smithills School compares
Smithills School ranked 18th of 19 secondary schools in Bolton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36.5 | 9.4% | 42.4% | 1,203 | — |
| Thornleigh Salesian College | 45.7 | 8.5% | 29.6% | 1,574 | 0.5 miles |
| Eden Boys' School, Bolton | 53 | 4.6% | 33.4% | 621 | 0.9 miles |
| Sharples School | 55.6 | 5.5% | 29.3% | 1,214 | 1.4 miles |
| University Collegiate School | 36.7 | 9% | 50.3% | 683 | 1.9 miles |
| Canon Slade School | 53.9 | 6% | 16.8% | 1,724 | 1.9 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report31 March 2026
- 19 September 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 42.38%
- English as an additional language
- 58.8%
- Overall absence
- 9.44%
- Persistent absence
- 28.2%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Thornleigh Salesian College0.5 miles
Secondary · Bolton
-
Eden Boys' School, Bolton0.9 miles
Secondary · Bolton
-
Sharples School1.4 miles
Secondary · Bolton
-
University Collegiate School1.9 miles
Secondary · Bolton
-
Canon Slade School1.9 miles
Secondary · Bolton
Other schools in Bolton
Smithills School ranks 18th 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 Smithills School teach?
- Smithills School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bolton.
- Who is the headteacher of Smithills School?
- The headteacher of Smithills School is Ms Carolyn Dewse, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Smithills School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Smithills 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 Smithills School?
- Smithills School has 1,203 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Smithills School full?
- Smithills School has capacity for 1,250 pupils and 1,203 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 Smithills School a faith school?
- No. Smithills School has no designated religious character.
- Is Smithills School a selective school?
- No. Smithills School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Smithills School?
- Smithills School is part of THE BOLTON IMPACT TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Smithills School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.9 in 2022/23 and 36.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Smithills School rank locally?
- Smithills School ranked 18th of 19 secondary schools in Bolton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Smithills School's absence rate?
- Smithills School's overall absence rate is 9.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Smithills School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Smithills 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.