SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Altrincham, Trafford

Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College

Urban Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA15 8HT

Sixth form Roman Catholic
School website 01617686030

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 18 March 2025.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

48.9 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

42% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

66% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.8 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

10% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the upper half of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.23confidence interval 0.06 to 0.40

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as above average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
C+
Average points per entry
31.9

England average 32.3

A level students
112

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1638
Places
1700
How full
Nearly full — 1638 of 1700 places taken
Girls / boys
812 / 826
Overall absence
8%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
22%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
15%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
11%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
18%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
93%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
86%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
5%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
34%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
281

After sixth form

Went to university
67%

England 50%

In education, work or training
88%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
94

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

26% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
73%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
91

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Trafford 024E, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
57%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
9%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
61%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
12%

England 17%

Households with no car
17%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
28%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Voluntary aided school
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Clare Hogg
Local authority
Trafford
Ward
Altrincham
Constituency
Altrincham and Sale West
URN
106376

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Wellington SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 57.3 0.5 mi
North Cestrian SchoolFree schools No grade 54.2 0.6 mi
Loreto Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 73.7 0.7 mi
Altrincham CollegeAcademy converter No grade 48.5 0.7 mi
Altrincham Grammar School for BoysAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 78.5 0.9 mi
Altrincham Grammar School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 80.6 0.9 mi
Saint Ambrose CollegeAcademy converter No grade 76.2 1.5 mi
Dixons Brooklands AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 36.1 2.1 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Summerhill SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 51.6
Grays Convent High SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2023 55.7
Settle CollegeCommunity school No grade 42.1
The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 53.8
Garstang Community AcademyAcademy converter Requires improvement 2024 44.8
Deyes High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 42.8
Moulton School and Science CollegeAcademy converter Good 2023 46.1
The Beacon SchoolAcademy converter Requires improvement 2023 45.1

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.