The FMS Inspection Score is FindMySchool's proprietary analysis based on official Ofsted and ISI inspection reports. It converts ratings into a standardised 1–10 scale for fair comparison across all schools in England.
Disclaimer: The FMS Inspection Score is an independent analysis by FindMySchool. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with Ofsted or ISI. Always refer to the official Ofsted or ISI report for the full picture of a school’s inspection outcome.
A large, mixed 11 to 16 secondary serving Chadderton and the wider Oldham area, this is a school that puts structure first. The daily rhythm is explicit, with a Welcome and Wellbeing session built into the timetable, and a behaviour framework centred on the Five Respects. That clarity matters in a school of this size, with capacity for around 1,500 students.
The leadership picture is stable. Mr John Cregg was appointed headteacher in April 2019 and took up post from 01 September 2019, giving the school several years of continuity through curriculum and pastoral change.
The most recent external verdict is consistent across the board. The latest Ofsted inspection, dated 27 and 28 February 2024, graded the school Good overall and Good in each judgement area.
The tone here is shaped less by tradition and more by shared language. The Five Respects are presented as student-created expectations and they are used as a practical anchor for behaviour, relationships, and learning habits. The detail is concrete, from respectful speech to looking after specialist rooms and equipment.
The culture also leans into rights and inclusion. The school describes itself as a Rights Respecting School, with the rights and respect framing intended to apply to adult to student relationships as well as peer interactions.
As a large community school, social times matter. The 2024 inspection narrative notes that behaviour in classrooms is generally sensible and anchored by the Five Respects, but it also flags that a small minority of older pupils can be boisterous at break or lunchtimes, sometimes making younger pupils uncomfortable. That is an important nuance for families to test on an open event, especially for students who are quieter or more anxious in crowds.
The school sits within a local governance and trust context. The prospectus states that, in 2025, the school became part of the Cranmer Education Trust. For parents, the practical implication is usually consistency of systems and access to shared expertise, rather than a wholesale change in day to day identity, but it is still worth asking what has changed since joining and what is next.
Outcomes present as broadly in line with England norms, with some indicators slightly below.
For GCSE performance, the school’s FindMySchool ranking places it 2,760th in England and 12th in Oldham for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). This position sits below England average overall, within the lower performance band relative to other schools in England.
Attainment 8 is 44.2. Progress 8 is -0.06, which indicates student progress is slightly below the England average once prior attainment is taken into account.
The EBacc picture is a relative pressure point. The average EBacc APS is 3.6 compared with an England average of 4.08, and 4.8% achieved grade 5 or above in the EBacc measure.
What this means for families is not that ambition is absent, but that outcomes are uneven by pathway. In a school of this scale, the most useful questions at open evening tend to be very specific, for example, how setting is used, what intervention looks like in core subjects, and how option choices are guided at Key Stage 4.
Parents comparing local schools can use the FindMySchool Local Hub pages to benchmark GCSE outcomes side by side using the Comparison Tool, particularly helpful when several nearby options share similar intakes.
England ranks and key metrics (where available)
GCSE 9–7
—
% of students achieving grades 9-7
The curriculum narrative is explicit about knowledge and sequencing. The school describes a five-year journey, with three years at Key Stage 3 followed by two years at Key Stage 4, introduced from September 2020. The stated aim is to give students a broader foundation before GCSE depth.
Literacy is not treated as an add-on. There is a structured reading approach through Personal Learning Guide time (PLG), where tutors pre-teach vocabulary and read aloud with students following the text. In Years 7 to 9, students also have a regular library lesson slot, designed to ensure they have an appropriate book and routine reading time. Subject teaching is expected to foreground key vocabulary and explicitly teach sentence and paragraph structures for extended writing.
Targeted catch-up is spelled out most clearly at the Year 7 transition point. The Year 7 intervention programme outlines how students below expected standard can receive small-group numeracy support with a maths specialist teaching assistant, intended to close gaps early. For reading, the programme describes screening via NGRT, follow-up assessment, and delivery through phonics or reader-listener work depending on need. The published impact measures, for one cohort, include 22 students on a phonics programme increasing reading age beyond chronological age and an average reading-age increase of 19 months.
The strongest teaching question to ask as a parent is about consistency. The 2024 inspection report highlights that in a small number of subjects, teachers do not routinely check whether pupils have fully understood before moving on, which can limit what some pupils remember over time.
Quality of Education
Good
Behaviour & Attitudes
Good
Personal Development
Good
Leadership & Management
Good
FMS Inspection Score calculated by FindMySchool based on official inspection data.
With no sixth form on site, the “next step” is post-16 progression into local sixth forms, colleges, and apprenticeship routes. The school presents careers guidance as an active strand of pastoral support, including access to careers advisers.
External engagement is also part of the picture. The 2024 inspection report states that students receive information and guidance about post-16 pathways, supported by visitors such as colleges and other post-16 providers.
For families, the practical implication is that Year 10 and Year 11 are the key planning window. It is worth asking how guidance is delivered (assemblies, 1 to 1 interviews, employer encounters), and how destinations are tracked, particularly for students aiming for technical routes or apprenticeships.
This is a state school with no tuition fees.
Year 7 admissions are coordinated through the local authority application process rather than direct school selection. For September 2026 entry, Oldham Council states that applications open from 01 August 2025 and the deadline is 5pm on 31 October 2025. Offers are issued on 02 March 2026, with appeals running into April and heard by July.
The school’s own admissions page mirrors the key timing, confirming online application through the local authority and the 31 October deadline for secondary transfer.
The school has also published consultation material on proposed admissions arrangement changes for Year 7 entry in September 2026. Parents considering applying should read the final published admissions policy for that year group and check whether any changes affect oversubscription criteria.
Applications
526
Total received
Places Offered
291
Subscription Rate
1.8x
Applications per place
Pastoral support is organised through a daily contact point. The prospectus describes Personal Learning Guides (PLG) as a daily Welcome and Wellbeing structure, intended to give students regular one to one contact and early identification of issues. It also describes year teams, including year managers and assistant year managers, as an ongoing support layer across the day.
Attendance is treated as a systems issue rather than a punishment issue. The 2024 inspection report describes routine monitoring, work with families where attendance is fragile, and involvement of other agencies when needed.
Support for students with SEND is described as prompt identification with staff using shared information effectively, supported by teacher training to adapt classroom teaching.
The same Ofsted inspection confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective.
A school of this size can offer breadth, but what matters is whether students actually participate. The published enrichment model uses tracking, with the prospectus stating there are over 30 enrichment activities available, and the school site describing a Lesson 6 tracker and enrichment stamps.
The enrichment timetable gives a useful sense of the real offer. Alongside sport sessions such as trampolining, badminton, netball, table tennis, and five-a-side, there are targeted academic and creative options including CAD virtual modelling, sewing, jewellery club, hairdressing club, Rubik’s Cube club, chess club, Lego club, sports journalism, and music ensembles such as choir, string orchestra, brass orchestra, keyboard club, and guitar club.
The school also showcases enrichment as lived experience, not just clubs. Recent examples include a UK Parliament visit with debate workshops, a Rotary Club Young Chef competition, and a National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain “Play the School” event involving workshops and performance.
For parents, the best question is how access is structured. Ask whether clubs are open entry or invitation, how Year 7s are encouraged to try activities early, and what support exists for students who need a confidence bridge into participation.
The day is clearly timetabled. School opens to students at 8.20am, with Welcome and Wellbeing at 8.30am, Period 1 at 8.50am, and the end of the school day at 3.00pm. The school also notes that it cannot accept responsibility for students on site before 8.20am or after 3.00pm unless supervised by staff permission, and that Protected Learning Catch-Up runs to 3.30pm.
Transport support includes a dedicated school bus service. The school states its yellow school bus is the 875 service run by Bee Network and powered by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), with route and times published separately.
Large-school dynamics. With capacity around 1,500 and a roll reported in the 2024 inspection report of 1,470, corridors and social times can feel busy; families should test how their child feels about scale and movement around site.
Consistency at social times. The 2024 inspection narrative flags that a small minority of older pupils can be boisterous at break and lunch, and that behaviour expectations are not always consistently applied during social times. Ask what has changed since February 2024 and how consistency is assured.
Subject-by-subject variation. External evaluation highlights that in a small number of subjects, checking for understanding is not consistent enough, which can affect long-term retention. This is worth probing if your child needs regular retrieval and recap to thrive.
Post-16 transition planning. Without a sixth form, the quality of careers guidance and the strength of external links matter. Ask how guidance is personalised, especially for technical and apprenticeship routes.
A structured, values-led community school with clear routines, explicit literacy work, and a strong focus on personal development. The latest inspection outcome confirms a stable Good standard across all areas, with particular strengths in safeguarding, inclusion, and the clarity of the school’s expectations.
Best suited to families who want a large, inclusive secondary with firm routines, lots of organised enrichment, and a clear pastoral structure. The key due diligence is to check how behaviour feels at break and lunch, and to explore how the school is tightening consistency across all subjects.
The most recent inspection, dated 27 and 28 February 2024, graded the school Good overall and Good across all judgement areas. The report also confirms effective safeguarding arrangements, and describes an ambitious approach for pupils from different backgrounds, including those with SEND.
Applications are made through Oldham Council’s coordinated admissions system. For September 2026 entry, Oldham Council states applications open from 01 August 2025 and close at 5pm on 31 October 2025, with offers released on 02 March 2026.
No. The age range is 11 to 16, so students move on to sixth forms, colleges, and other post-16 providers after Year 11. The school describes careers guidance and engagement with post-16 providers as part of its preparation for next steps.
Behaviour in classrooms is described as sensible and linked to the school’s Five Respects expectations. The most recent inspection report also notes that a small minority of older pupils can be boisterous at social times, and that staff application of the behaviour policy is not fully consistent during breaks and lunchtimes.
The published enrichment timetable includes sport clubs (such as trampolining, badminton, netball, and five-a-side) alongside creative and skills-based options such as CAD modelling, sewing, jewellery club, chess, Lego club, sports journalism, choir, and multiple music ensembles. The prospectus states there are over 30 enrichment activities available.
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Information on this page is compiled, analysed, and processed from publicly available sources including the Department for Education (DfE), Ofsted, the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, and official school websites.
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