Secondary school in Heywood, Rochdale
Edgar Wood Academy
Heywood Old Road, Heywood, OL10 2QN
Ofsted
Graded Requires improvement at its last graded inspection, on 21 November 2023.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 2 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 729
- Places
- 900
- How full
- 81% full — 729 of 900 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 338 / 391
- Overall absence
- 10%
- Persistently absent
- 31%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 46%
- English as an additional language
- 14%
- With an EHC plan
- 4%
- On SEN support
- 14%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Rochdale 022F, 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
- 33%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 17%
- Households owning their home
- 78%
- Households in social housing
- 8%
- Households with no car
- 14%
- Adults economically inactive
- 31%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Free schools
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- ALTUS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Paul Jones
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Ward
- West Middleton
- Constituency
- Heywood and Middleton North
- URN
- 148596
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Anne's Church of England AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Good 2024 | 44.1 | 0.9 mi |
| Elizabeth House SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 1.1 mi |
| Newhouse AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Requires improvement 2023 | 38.9 | 1.4 mi |
| Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2022 | 40.9 | 1.6 mi |
| Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England CollegeVoluntary aided school | No grade | 43.4 | 1.7 mi |
| Our Lady's RC High SchoolVoluntary aided school | No grade | 49.1 | 1.8 mi |
| Unsworth AcademyAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 45.4 | 2 mi |
| Parrenthorn High SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | — | 2 mi |
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.
- 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.