Co-op Academy Strinesdale
Huddersfield Road, Oldham, OL4 3NY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE CO-OPERATIVE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Alex Bottomley
- Sponsor
- The Co-operative Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Oldham East and Saddleworth
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,500
- Pupils on roll
- 761
- URN
- 144508
- Local authority
- Oldham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01616205859
About this school
Co-op Academy Strinesdale is a secondary academy in Oldham. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 761 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Co-op Academy Strinesdale, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 282 | 274 | 259 |
| Attainment 8 score | 33.1 | 33.9 | 34.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.75 -0.93 to -0.57 | -0.72 -0.91 to -0.54 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 18% | 22.6% | 22% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 35% | 41.6% | 39% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 31% | 38.3% | 42.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
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 Co-op Academy Strinesdale has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Oldham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 33.1 | 39.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 33.9 | 38.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 34 | 35.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,261 |
| 2023/24 | 1,128 |
| 2024/25 | 947 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Co-op Academy Strinesdale compares
Co-op Academy Strinesdale ranked 10th of 10 secondary schools in Oldham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% 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 | 34 | 9.3% | 51.5% | 761 | — |
| Oasis Academy Leesbrook | 41.5 | 8.1% | 48.8% | 1,349 | 1.2 miles |
| The Blue Coat CofE School | 59.1 | 4.8% | 17% | 1,702 | 1.5 miles |
| E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy | 38.7 | 7.9% | 47.6% | 975 | 1.8 miles |
| The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy | — | 4.7% | 41.5% | 950 | 2.2 miles |
| E-ACT the Oldham Academy North | 48.2 | 6.3% | 49.3% | 1,258 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 51.53%
- English as an additional language
- 42.1%
- Overall absence
- 9.25%
- Persistent absence
- 29.7%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Oasis Academy Leesbrook1.2 miles
Secondary · Oldham
-
The Blue Coat CofE School1.5 miles
Secondary · Oldham
-
E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy1.8 miles
Secondary · Oldham
-
The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Oldham
-
E-ACT the Oldham Academy North2.3 miles
Secondary · Oldham
Other schools in Oldham
Co-op Academy Strinesdale ranks 9th of the 9 ranked secondary schools in Oldham.
- E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy Secondary
- E-ACT the Oldham Academy North Secondary
- North Chadderton School Secondary
- Oasis Academy Leesbrook Secondary
- Oasis Academy Oldham Secondary
- Saddleworth School Secondary
- Saint John Henry Newman Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy Secondary
- The Blue Coat CofE School Secondary
- The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy Secondary
- The Crompton House Church of England Academy Secondary
- The Hathershaw College Secondary
- The Radclyffe School Secondary
Recorded changes at this school
Previous principal: Mrs Tracy Foy (until September 2026).
- School name changed from Co-Op Academy Strinesdale to Co-op Academy Strinesdale recorded 25 Sep 2026
- Headteacher changed from Mrs Tracy Foy to Mr Alex Bottomley recorded 22 Sep 2026
- School name changed from Co-Op Academy Waterhead to Co-Op Academy Strinesdale recorded 22 Sep 2026
- School name changed from Waterhead Academy to Co-Op Academy Waterhead recorded 19 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What ages does Co-op Academy Strinesdale teach?
- Co-op Academy Strinesdale teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Oldham.
- Who is the principal of Co-op Academy Strinesdale?
- The principal of Co-op Academy Strinesdale is Mr Alex Bottomley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Co-op Academy Strinesdale been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Co-op Academy Strinesdale, 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 Co-op Academy Strinesdale?
- Co-op Academy Strinesdale has 761 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Co-op Academy Strinesdale full?
- Co-op Academy Strinesdale has capacity for 1,500 pupils and 761 on roll (51%), so it has space against 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 Co-op Academy Strinesdale a faith school?
- No. Co-op Academy Strinesdale has no designated religious character.
- Is Co-op Academy Strinesdale part of an academy trust?
- Co-op Academy Strinesdale is part of THE CO-OPERATIVE ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Co-op Academy Strinesdale's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 33.1 in 2022/23 and 34 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Co-op Academy Strinesdale compare with other schools in Oldham?
- Co-op Academy Strinesdale ranked 10th of 10 secondary schools in Oldham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% 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 Co-op Academy Strinesdale's absence rate?
- Co-op Academy Strinesdale's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Co-op Academy Strinesdale's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Co-op Academy Strinesdale'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 25 September 2026.