Woodhey High School
Bolton Road West, Ramsbottom, Bury, BL0 9QZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE SHAW EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Dean Watson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Shaw Education Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Bury North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,111
- URN
- 148097
- Local authority
- Bury
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01706825215
About this school
Woodhey High School is a secondary academy in Bury. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,111 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Woodhey High School, 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
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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 211 | 214 | 216 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.4 | 49.2 | 47.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.01 -0.18 to +0.20 | +0.05 -0.14 to +0.24 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 55% | 51.9% | 47.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 76% | 74.3% | 73.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 45% | 41.1% | 16.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
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 Woodhey High 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 | Bury average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.4 | 40.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 49.2 | 38.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.3 | 37.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,114 |
| 2023/24 | 1,111 |
| 2024/25 | 1,102 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Woodhey High School compares
Woodhey High School ranked 4th of 11 secondary schools in Bury for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47.3 | 6.5% | 15.7% | 1,111 | — |
| Tottington High School | 34.9 | 12.3% | 29.5% | 811 | 1.6 miles |
| The Elton High School | 44.3 | 7.9% | 22.2% | 1,017 | 2.4 miles |
| St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy | 46 | 8.5% | 24.7% | 1,027 | 3.3 miles |
| Bury Church of England High School | 49.1 | 8.4% | 22% | 802 | 3.5 miles |
| Turton School | 43.7 | 10.1% | 23.1% | 1,596 | 3.6 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)
- 15.7%
- English as an additional language
- 0.9%
- Overall absence
- 6.53%
- Persistent absence
- 14.25%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Tottington High School1.6 miles
Secondary · Bury
-
The Elton High School2.4 miles
Secondary · Bury
-
St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy3.3 miles
Secondary · Bury
-
Bury Church of England High School3.5 miles
Secondary · Bury
-
Turton School3.6 miles
Secondary · Bolton
Other schools in Bury
Woodhey High School ranks 2nd of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Bury.
- Bury Church of England High School Secondary
- Hazel Wood High School Secondary
- St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy Secondary
- The Elton High School Secondary
- Tottington High School Secondary
- Unsworth Academy Secondary
- Hoyle Nursery School Nursery
- Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School Primary
- Chantlers Primary School Primary
- Chesham Primary Academy Primary
- Christ Church CofE Primary School Primary
- East Ward Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Woodhey High School teach?
- Woodhey High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bury.
- Who is the headteacher of Woodhey High School?
- The headteacher of Woodhey High School is Mr Dean Watson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Woodhey High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Woodhey High 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 many pupils are at Woodhey High School?
- Woodhey High School has 1,111 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Woodhey High School full?
- Woodhey High School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,111 on roll (106%), 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 Woodhey High School a faith school?
- No. Woodhey High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Woodhey High School a selective school?
- No. Woodhey High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Woodhey High School part of an academy trust?
- Woodhey High School is part of THE SHAW EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Woodhey High School have?
- The schools register lists Woodhey High School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Woodhey High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.4 in 2022/23 and 47.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Woodhey High School compare with other schools in Bury?
- Woodhey High School ranked 4th of 11 secondary schools in Bury for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Woodhey High School's absence rate?
- Woodhey High School's overall absence rate is 6.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Woodhey High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Woodhey High 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 10 July 2026.