Secondary school in Rochdale
St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy
Shaw Road, Thornham, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL16 4RX
Ofsted
Graded Requires improvement at its last graded inspection, on 29 March 2022.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 4 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
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 quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.
Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the lower half.
Progress 8 2023/24
No Progress 8 score published for this school.
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
- 1023
- Places
- 1200
- How full
- 85% full — 1023 of 1200 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 527 / 496
- Overall absence
- 11%
- Persistently absent
- 33%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 44%
- English as an additional language
- 30%
- With an EHC plan
- 3%
- On SEN support
- 19%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Rochdale 016E, 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
- 40%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 11%
- Households owning their home
- 89%
- Households in social housing
- 2%
- Households with no car
- 6%
- Adults economically inactive
- 29%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy sponsor led
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- ST TERESA OF CALCUTTA CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Emma Keenan
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Ward
- Balderstone & Kirkholt
- Constituency
- Rochdale
- URN
- 149873
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kingsway Park High SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 35.3 | 0.9 mi |
| The Crompton House Church of England AcademyAcademy converter | Good 2024 | 46.8 | 1.4 mi |
| Beech House SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 1.7 mi |
| Hollingworth AcademyAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 51.1 | 2 mi |
| E-ACT Royton and Crompton AcademyAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 38.7 | 2.1 mi |
| E-ACT the Oldham Academy NorthAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 48.2 | 2.1 mi |
| Matthew Moss High SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2024 | 39.4 | 2.2 mi |
| Darul Madinah Rochdale LtdOther independent school | No grade | — | 2.4 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Saint Mary Magdalene Church of England All Through SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2023 | 43.3 |
| Norbury High School for GirlsAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 46.4 |
| Ernesford Grange Community AcademyAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 38.3 |
| Irlam and Cadishead AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Good 2024 | 43.6 |
| Lancaster High SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 35.6 |
| Broadoak AcademyAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 38.7 |
| Islip Manor High SchoolFoundation school | No grade | 38.3 |
| Bishop Stopford's SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2024 | 36.5 |
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.