St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy
Shaw Road, Thornham, Rochdale, OL16 4RX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ST TERESA OF CALCUTTA CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Emma Keenan
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Salford
- Sponsor
- St Teresa Of Calcutta Catholic Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Rochdale
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,023
- URN
- 149873
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01706647761
About this school
St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Rochdale. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,023 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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
This inspection took place when the school was registered as St Cuthbert's RC High School (URN 105845).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 224 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.7 |
| Progress 8 score | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 29% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 47.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 18.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 |
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 St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary 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 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 1,096 |
| 2024/25 | 1,057 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy compares
St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy ranked 8th of 11 secondary schools in Rochdale for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.7 | 10.6% | 43.8% | 1,023 | — |
| Kingsway Park High School | 35.3 | 9.8% | 50% | 1,289 | 0.9 miles |
| The Crompton House Church of England Academy | 46.8 | 6.8% | 19.1% | 1,865 | 1.4 miles |
| Hollingworth Academy | 51.1 | 7.4% | 29.7% | 1,331 | 2.0 miles |
| E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy | 38.7 | 7.9% | 47.6% | 975 | 2.1 miles |
| E-ACT the Oldham Academy North | 48.2 | 6.3% | 49.3% | 1,258 | 2.1 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)
- 43.8%
- English as an additional language
- 29.5%
- Overall absence
- 10.63%
- Persistent absence
- 32.67%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Kingsway Park High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
-
The Crompton House Church of England Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Oldham
-
Hollingworth Academy2.0 miles
Secondary · Rochdale
-
E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Oldham
-
E-ACT the Oldham Academy North2.1 miles
Secondary · Oldham
Other schools in Rochdale
St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy ranks 5th 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
- Oulder Hill Leadership 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 year groups does St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy teach?
- St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Rochdale.
- Who is the headteacher of St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy?
- The headteacher of St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is Mrs Emma Keenan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary 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 big is St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy?
- St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy has 1,023 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy full?
- St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,023 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 St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy a faith school?
- Yes. St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Salford.
- Is St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy a selective school?
- No. St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy?
- St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is part of ST TERESA OF CALCUTTA CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How does St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy rank locally?
- St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy ranked 8th of 11 secondary schools in Rochdale for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy's absence rate?
- St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy's overall absence rate is 10.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary 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.