A mid-sized mill town of around 28,000, Heywood sits on the south bank of the River Roch in Greater Manchester, transformed from scattered hamlets into a textile and coal-mining centre by the late Industrial Revolution. Today, the town's heritage as a cotton and mining hub provides context for its contemporary character.
Railway links connect the town to Manchester and regional destinations. The dense Victorian and Edwardian terraces built during the 19th-century cotton boom now frame catchment areas where Heywood is widely regarded as one of Rochdale's most sought-after postcodes for families competing for school places. Hopwood and Bamford extend this residential arc to the east and north.
Area Performance
Across 12 primary and secondary schools, state and independent. The average Find My School Inspection Score is 7.88/10, +0.52 vs England.
Find My School Inspection Band
Distribution across all Heywood schools
Heywood vs England distribution
National Rank
Across all ranked Heywood schools
top 44% of 14,978
top 44% of 14,978
top 80% of 3,680
top 80% of 3,680
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