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Secondary · BL1 · Bolton

Smithills School

Smithills Dean Road, Smithills School, Bolton, BL1 6JS

THE BOLTON IMPACT TRUST is the academy trust. Admissions rules still sit with the school and your local council.

Requires improvement

At a glance

Key published figures for this school.

OfstedRequires improvement
Attendance94.3%
AttainmentProgress 8: -0.04
AdmissionsAbout average
Pupils1203

Ofsted inspection

Latest outcome

Requires improvement

Latest visit (Jun 2026): renewed Ofsted format (no single overall grade) — curriculum and teaching, achievement, personal development and wellbeing and leadership and governance needs attention; inclusion and attendance and behaviour expected standard. See the full Ofsted report.

Inspection history

  1. Previous gradedGood

This page shows previous graded and latest ungraded outcomes when Ofsted publishes them in the national file. Full history stays on the Ofsted report.

View on Ofsted

School figures

Coloured bars compare this school with the average for other schools in BL1. Where we have them, council (Bolton) and England figures appear under FSM, SEN and attendance. FSM, SEN and EAL are context, not quality scores. For attendance, higher is usually better.

Pupils on roll
1203
Free school meals
41.8%
10.4% above district average (31.4%)

Also: Bolton 30.5% · England 25.8%

SEN
14.3%
8.4% below district average (22.7%)

Also: Bolton 13.8% · England 16.5%

EAL
58.8%
18.3% above district average (40.5%)
Attendance
94.3%
1.7% below district average (96%)

Also: Bolton 92.2% · England 91.9%

Persistent absence
16%
Progress 8
-0.04 (2023/24)
Attainment 8
36.5
Grade 5+ English & maths
20.1%
Grade 4+ English & maths
47%
Entered for EBacc
32.1%
EBacc average point score
3.25

Each metric uses its own colour so you can tell the rows apart. The lighter bar is the BL1 average; the darker bar is this school.

Trends over time

Attendance

Autumn and spring term attendance from DfE pupil absence data (where published for this URN).

  • 2020/2196.5%
  • 2021/2291.9%
  • 2022/2390.8%
  • 2023/2490.4%
  • 2024/2590.9%

Admissions

Demand signal
About average
Published capacity (GIAS)
1500
Pupils on roll
1203

Indicative signal from published roll versus GIAS capacity. Not applications versus offers, and not a guarantee of a place.

Published admission number (PAN) and applications versus offers are not in our national datasets yet. Use your council booklet.

Check your council admissions booklet via the Bolton page.

SEN support

SEN %
14.3%
On-site provision
None listed in GIAS

A higher SEN percentage can mean experience with support needs, or more demand on staff. Ask the SENCO what is available day to day.

Sources and freshness

  • School year for most DfE figures: 2024/25.
  • Pipeline last checked: Sept 2026.
  • Council and England attendance / FSM tables: 2024/25.
  • School figures from DfE / GIAS / Ofsted where published. District averages use other schools in this postcode district. Council and England figures use DfE local authority and national tables for the matching phase.
  • School photos are not shown yet. Schools will be able to add one later.
  • Methodology · Data updates