Edgar Wood Academy
Heywood Old Road, Heywood, OL10 2QN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ALTUS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mr Paul Jones
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Rochdale Sixth Form College
- Constituency
- Heywood and Middleton North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 729
- URN
- 148596
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01616769620
About this school
Edgar Wood Academy is a secondary academy in Heywood. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 729 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Edgar Wood 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. 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
Trends over time
How Edgar Wood 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 | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 295 |
| 2023/24 | 476 |
| 2024/25 | 637 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Edgar Wood Academy compares
Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | — | 9.7% | 45.5% | 729 | — |
| St Anne's Church of England Academy | 44.1 | 8.8% | 51.4% | 817 | 0.9 miles |
| Newhouse Academy | 38.9 | 9.1% | 45.7% | 974 | 1.4 miles |
| Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School | 40.9 | 7.5% | 28.7% | 1,186 | 1.6 miles |
| Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College | 43.4 | 7.5% | 23.5% | 768 | 1.7 miles |
| Our Lady's RC High School | 49.1 | 4.4% | 44.6% | 1,046 | 1.8 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)
- 45.53%
- English as an additional language
- 14.4%
- Overall absence
- 9.72%
- Persistent absence
- 30.74%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Anne's Church of England Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Newhouse Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Heywood
-
Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School1.6 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College1.7 miles
Secondary · Heywood
-
Our Lady's RC High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Manchester
Other schools in Heywood
- Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College Secondary
- Newhouse Academy Secondary
- All Souls Church of England Primary School Primary
- Harwood Park Primary School Primary
- Hopwood Community Primary School Primary
- Our Lady & St Paul's RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Primary
- St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School Rochdale, a Voluntary Academy Primary
- St Luke's Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Margaret's Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Michael's Church of England Primary School, Bamford Primary
- Woodland Community Primary School Primary
- Oak Haven School Special schools
Common questions
- What ages does Edgar Wood Academy teach?
- Edgar Wood Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Heywood.
- Who is the headteacher of Edgar Wood Academy?
- The headteacher of Edgar Wood Academy is Mr Paul Jones, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Edgar Wood Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Edgar Wood 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 Edgar Wood Academy?
- Edgar Wood Academy has 729 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Edgar Wood Academy full?
- Edgar Wood Academy has capacity for 900 pupils and 729 on roll (81%), 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 Edgar Wood Academy a faith school?
- No. Edgar Wood Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Edgar Wood Academy a selective school?
- No. Edgar Wood Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Edgar Wood Academy part of an academy trust?
- Edgar Wood Academy is part of ALTUS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What is Edgar Wood Academy's absence rate?
- Edgar Wood Academy's overall absence rate is 9.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- Does Edgar Wood Academy publish exam results?
- OfferDay shows exam results for a school only where the Department for Education has published them, and none are shown for Edgar Wood Academy. That is usual for infant, nursery, special and independent schools, and for schools without recent published results.
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.