Ladybridge High School

Community school·Secondary school Bolton·BL3 4NG
Composite score
52.1
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#2,270
National rank
#286
In North West
#16
In Bolton
Top 72%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
41.7
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
33%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
52%
% EBacc grade 5+
5%
EBacc average points score
3.56

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
92%
211 first choices, 230 places
First choices per place
0.92
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
518
any preference, for 230 places
Last place offered lived
1.70 mi
straight line, 2026 intake · 2736 m
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.03
00.511.5
1 per place
0.7220220.7520231.0420240.8920250.922026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

The cut-off distance is how far the last child offered a place lived, not a catchment boundary: it moves every year with the number of applicants. Published by the council in its 2026 allocation figures, and checked against that document before we show it.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
1,123
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
37.0%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
37.2%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
10.2%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.0%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
7.4%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
21.2%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
15.2
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,012
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
93%
211 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
87%
Apprenticeship
4%
Employment
2%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

Ladybridge High School at a glance

Located in Bolton, Ladybridge High School is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a community school. The school educates roughly 1,123 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 41.7, below the national average of 46. That is down 0.9 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

33% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 52% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. 92% of the families who made Ladybridge High School their first choice were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026, even though the school made at least as many offers as it had first choices - the rest withdrew, moved or fell outside a priority group. The council's own allocation figures show the last child offered a place for 2026 lived 1.70 miles away in a straight line — that distance is not a fixed catchment and moves each year. After Year 11, 93% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 7.4%. There are about 15.2 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 37% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. Given the recent dip in results, it may be worth asking the school what is behind the change and what is being done in response. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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