Secondary school in Bolton
Smithills School
Smithills Dean Road, Bolton, Lancashire, BL1 6JS
Ofsted
Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 31 March 2026.
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.
GCSE results 2024/25
Attainment 8 score
The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.
Grade 5+ in English & maths
Grade 4+ in English & maths
EBacc average point score
Entered the EBacc
On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom 10% of state-funded secondaries in England.
Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.
Progress 8 2023/24
Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as 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.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 1203
- Places
- 1250
- How full
- Nearly full — 1203 of 1250 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 626 / 577
- Overall absence
- 9%
- Persistently absent
- 28%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 42%
- English as an additional language
- 59%
- With an EHC plan
- 2%
- On SEN support
- 12%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
- In education, work or training
- 87%
- Stayed in education
- 78%
- Started an apprenticeship
- 4%
- Stayed at this school's sixth form
- 1%
- No sustained destination
- 9%
- Pupils in the cohort
- 171
England 91.4%
England 85.4%
England 3.5%
England 5.8%
A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. 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 Bolton 008D, 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
- 45%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 9%
- Households owning their home
- 92%
- Households in social housing
- 3%
- Households with no car
- 7%
- Adults economically inactive
- 36%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- THE BOLTON IMPACT TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Carolyn Dewse
- Local authority
- Bolton
- Ward
- Smithills
- Constituency
- Bolton West
- URN
- 140500
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornleigh Salesian CollegeVoluntary aided school | No grade | 45.7 | 0.5 mi |
| Eden Boys' School, BoltonFree schools | Outstanding 2023 | 53 | 0.9 mi |
| Madrasatul Imam Muhammad ZakariyaOther independent school | No grade | — | 1.1 mi |
| Bolton School Boys' DivisionOther independent school | No grade | — | 1.3 mi |
| Bolton School Girls' DivisionOther independent school | No grade | — | 1.3 mi |
| Sharples SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 55.6 | 1.4 mi |
| University Collegiate SchoolUniversity technical college | No grade | 36.7 | 1.9 mi |
| Canon Slade SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 53.9 | 1.9 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.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Macmillan AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Good 2022 | 47.8 |
| Salford City AcademyAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 46.1 |
| Montgomery AcademyAcademy converter | Good 2024 | 40 |
| Hamstead Hall AcademyAcademy converter | Good 2024 | 42.1 |
| Humphry Davy SchoolFoundation school | Good 2023 | 41.5 |
| The Victory AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Good 2023 | 35.5 |
| Canary Wharf College CrossharbourFree schools | Requires improvement 2024 | 52.9 |
| Astrea Academy DearneAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 40.2 |
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.