Oulder Hill Leadership Academy
Hudsons Walk, Rochdale, OL11 5EF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- STAR ACADEMIES
- Headteacher
- Mr Adrian Smale
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Star Academies
- Constituency
- Heywood and Middleton North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,500
- Pupils on roll
- 1,152
- URN
- 148847
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Telephone
- 01706645522
About this school
Oulder Hill Leadership Academy is a secondary academy in Rochdale. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,152 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Oulder Hill Leadership 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- 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 | 282 | 263 | 221 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.1 | 42.9 | 44.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.14 -0.31 to +0.03 | -0.11 -0.29 to +0.06 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 35% | 43.3% | 46.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 61% | 65.4% | 65.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 68% | 75.3% | 81% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
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 Oulder Hill Leadership 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 | Rochdale average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 41.1 | 36.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.9 | 37.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.4 | 34.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,208 |
| 2023/24 | 1,184 |
| 2024/25 | 1,170 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Oulder Hill Leadership Academy compares
Oulder Hill Leadership Academy ranked 2nd of 11 secondary schools in Rochdale for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.4 | 8.6% | 38.5% | 1,152 | — |
| Falinge Park High School | — | 10.3% | 45.8% | 1,344 | 0.9 miles |
| Matthew Moss High School | 39.4 | 8.4% | 43.7% | 1,198 | 1.1 miles |
| Kingsway Park High School | 35.3 | 9.8% | 50% | 1,289 | 2.2 miles |
| Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College | 43.4 | 7.5% | 23.5% | 768 | 2.6 miles |
| Newhouse Academy | 38.9 | 9.1% | 45.7% | 974 | 2.7 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)
- 38.46%
- English as an additional language
- 31%
- Overall absence
- 8.63%
- Persistent absence
- 25.41%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Falinge Park High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
-
Matthew Moss High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
-
Kingsway Park High School2.2 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
-
Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College2.6 miles
Secondary · Heywood
-
Newhouse Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Heywood
Other schools in Rochdale
Oulder Hill Leadership Academy ranks 3rd of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Rochdale.
- Falinge Park High School Secondary
- Hollingworth Academy Secondary
- Kingsway Park High School Secondary
- Matthew Moss High School Secondary
- St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Wardle Academy Secondary
- Whitworth Community High School Secondary
- Howard Street Nursery School Nursery
- Alice Ingham Roman Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Primary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School Primary
- Ashfield Valley Primary School Primary
- Belfield Community School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Oulder Hill Leadership Academy teach?
- Oulder Hill Leadership Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Rochdale.
- Who is the headteacher of Oulder Hill Leadership Academy?
- The headteacher of Oulder Hill Leadership Academy is Mr Adrian Smale, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Oulder Hill Leadership Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Oulder Hill Leadership 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 Oulder Hill Leadership Academy?
- Oulder Hill Leadership Academy has 1,152 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Oulder Hill Leadership Academy full?
- Oulder Hill Leadership Academy has capacity for 1,500 pupils and 1,152 on roll (77%), 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 Oulder Hill Leadership Academy a faith school?
- No. Oulder Hill Leadership Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Oulder Hill Leadership Academy a selective school?
- No. Oulder Hill Leadership Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Oulder Hill Leadership Academy part of an academy trust?
- Oulder Hill Leadership Academy is part of STAR ACADEMIES. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Oulder Hill Leadership Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.1 in 2022/23 and 44.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Oulder Hill Leadership Academy compare with other schools in Rochdale?
- Oulder Hill Leadership Academy ranked 2nd of 11 secondary schools in Rochdale for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Oulder Hill Leadership Academy's absence rate?
- Oulder Hill Leadership Academy's overall absence rate is 8.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Oulder Hill Leadership Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Oulder Hill Leadership 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 3 July 2026.