Bolton St Catherine's Academy
Stitch MI Lane, Bolton, BL2 4HU
- Phase
- All-through
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- THE BISHOP FRASER TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Gareth Watson
- Diocese
- Diocese of Manchester
- Sponsor
- The Bishop Fraser Trust
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Bolton North East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,186
- Pupils on roll
- 1,003
- URN
- 145314
- Local authority
- Bolton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01204332533
About this school
Bolton St Catherine's Academy is a Church of England all-through academy in Bolton. It teaches children aged 3 to 16 and has 1,003 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Bolton St Catherine's Academy, 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
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 57 | 54 | 32 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 60% | 52% | 34% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 4% | 4% | 6% |
| Expected standard in reading | 65% | 63% | 50% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 81% | 66% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 79% | 76% | 44% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 102.0 | 100.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 104.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +3.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +4.20 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 148 | 140 | 138 |
| Attainment 8 score | 34.5 | 35.0 | 34.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.58 -0.82 to -0.35 | -0.71 -0.97 to -0.45 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 27% | 25.7% | 18.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 45% | 49.3% | 45.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 5% | 9.3% | 8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
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 Bolton St Catherine's 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 | Bolton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 60% | 63.5% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 52% | 63.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 34% | 63.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Bolton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 34.5 | 39.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 35 | 41.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 34.3 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,061 |
| 2023/24 | 1,051 |
| 2024/25 | 1,020 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bolton St Catherine's Academy compares
Bolton St Catherine's Academy ranked 19th of 19 secondary schools in Bolton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 26% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 34.3 | 9.1% | 53.7% | 1,003 | — |
| Abraham Moss Community School | 39.7 | 8% | 53.5% | 1,793 | 8.4 miles |
| William Hulme's Grammar School | 51.9 | 6.4% | 40.9% | 1,542 | 11.7 miles |
| Firwood High School | — | 14% | 55.5% | 261 | 0.1 miles |
| Harwood Meadows Primary School | — | 5.3% | 20.3% | 224 | 0.4 miles |
| Red Lane Primary School | — | 7.4% | 62.8% | 475 | 0.4 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)
- 53.68%
- English as an additional language
- 20.8%
- Overall absence
- 9.05%
- Persistent absence
- 24.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Abraham Moss Community School8.4 miles
All-through · Manchester
-
William Hulme's Grammar School11.7 miles
All-through · Manchester
-
Firwood High School0.1 miles
Academies · Bolton
-
Harwood Meadows Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Bolton
-
Red Lane Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Bolton
Other schools in Bolton
Bolton St Catherine's Academy ranks 87th of the 88 ranked primary schools in Bolton, and Bolton St Catherine's Academy ranks 19th of the 19 ranked secondary schools in Bolton.
- Grosvenor Nursery School and Day Care Centre Nursery
- The Orchards Nursery School Nursery
- All Saints CofE Primary School Primary
- Beacon Primary School Primary
- Beaumont Primary School Primary
- Bishop Bridgeman CofE Primary School Primary
- Blackrod Anglican/Methodist Primary School Primary
- Blackrod Primary School Primary
- Blackshaw Primary School Primary
- Bolton Parish Church, Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bowness Primary School Primary
- Brandwood Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Bolton St Catherine's Academy teach?
- Bolton St Catherine's Academy teaches children aged 3 to 16. It is an all-through school in Bolton.
- Who is the headteacher of Bolton St Catherine's Academy?
- The headteacher of Bolton St Catherine's Academy is Mr Gareth Watson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Bolton St Catherine's Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bolton St Catherine's 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 Bolton St Catherine's Academy?
- Bolton St Catherine's Academy has 1,003 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 16.
- Is Bolton St Catherine's Academy full?
- Bolton St Catherine's Academy has capacity for 1,186 pupils and 1,003 on roll (85%), 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 Bolton St Catherine's Academy a faith school?
- Yes. Bolton St Catherine's Academy is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Manchester.
- Is Bolton St Catherine's Academy part of an academy trust?
- Bolton St Catherine's Academy is part of THE BISHOP FRASER TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Bolton St Catherine's Academy have?
- The schools register lists Bolton St Catherine's Academy's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Bolton St Catherine's Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 60% 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 Bolton St Catherine's Academy compare with other schools in Bolton?
- Bolton St Catherine's Academy ranked 19th of 19 secondary schools in Bolton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 26% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bolton St Catherine's Academy's absence rate?
- Bolton St Catherine's Academy's overall absence rate is 9.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bolton St Catherine's Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bolton St Catherine's 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 10 July 2026.