Sharples School - The School Companion

Sharples School

Bolton · BL1 8SN

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 1214 pupils, 27.5% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 10.7% on SEN support Behaviour 5.5% absence rate Staff 11.5% turnover Financials £7,722 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Sharples School

General Information

Address: Hill Cot Road, Sharples, Bolton, BL1 8SN – View on map
Phone: 01204333253
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Miss Caroline Molyneux
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 344 families put it first for 235 places – 15 for every 10 places. 68% of them were offered a place. 3 of the 235 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 13 · 2024 14 · 2025 15 · 2026 15
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1214 pupils out of 1080 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 333
% eligible for free school meals: 27.5%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Bolton average)
English as an additional language: 32% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 11.5% a year (Bolton 16.5%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 38% moved to another school, 62% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Bolton: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 65 (2.9 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 28 (1.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 15 (0.7 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Bolton, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 5.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 11.4%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 10.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.6%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 36 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 35 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 24 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 14 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 11 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 12 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 12 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
Vision impairment: 4 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2013 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 55.6
Compared with the area: 8.8 points above the Bolton average (46.8)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (+6.2 points against an expected 49.4)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 82% (Bolton 66%, England 65%) Improving
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolBolton averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 8.8 points above the Bolton average (46.8).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

1st of 18 secondary schools in Bolton for Attainment 8

#1Sharples School55.6
#2Bolton Muslim Girls School54.7
#3Canon Slade School53.9

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Sharples School55.6
#2Bolton Muslim Girls School54.7
#3Canon Slade School53.9
#4St James's Church of England High School53.5
#5Eden Boys' School, Bolton53.0
#6Essa Academy53.0
#7Kearsley Academy51.8
#8Little Lever School46.2
#9Thornleigh Salesian College45.7
#10King's Leadership Academy Bolton45.4
#11St Joseph's RC High School44.8
#12Westhoughton High School44.4
#13Turton School43.7
#14Harper Green School42.8
#15Ladybridge High School41.7
#16University Collegiate School36.7
#17Smithills School36.5
#18Bolton St Catherine's Academy34.3

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 93.0%
Went into further education: 89.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Science Double Award
Geography
Religious Studies
History
Spanish
Statistics
Physics (General)
Biology
Chemistry (General)
French Language
Computer Science
D & T
Business Studies
Art & Design
Photography
Chinese
Astronomy
Urdu
Arabic

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

6th of 10 secondary schools in Bolton for Ofsted rating

#4King's Leadership Academy BoltonGood
#5Ladybridge High SchoolGood
#6Sharples SchoolGood
#7St James's Church of England High SchoolGood
#8Thornleigh Salesian CollegeGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Eden Boys' School, BoltonOutstanding
#2Harper Green SchoolGood
#3Kearsley AcademyGood
#4King's Leadership Academy BoltonGood
#5Ladybridge High SchoolGood
#6Sharples SchoolGood
#7St James's Church of England High SchoolGood
#8Thornleigh Salesian CollegeGood
#9Turton SchoolGood
#10Mount St Joseph RC High School a Voluntary AcademyRequires improvement

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,722 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

10th of 19 secondary schools in Bolton for spending per pupil

#8Kearsley Academy£7,823
#9Eden Boys' School, Bolton£7,791
#10Sharples School£7,722
#11Bolton Muslim Girls School£7,705
#12Little Lever School£7,653

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Bolton St Catherine's Academy£8,829
#2Harper Green School£8,582
#3Smithills School£8,392
#4Essa Academy£8,078
#5University Collegiate School£8,071
#6Ladybridge High School£8,012
#7Turton School£7,960
#8Kearsley Academy£7,823
#9Eden Boys' School, Bolton£7,791
#10Sharples School£7,722
#11Bolton Muslim Girls School£7,705
#12Little Lever School£7,653
#13St James's Church of England High School£7,584
#14King's Leadership Academy Bolton£7,528
#15Thornleigh Salesian College£7,363
#16Westhoughton High School£7,283
#17St Joseph's RC High School£7,251
#18Canon Slade School£6,916
#19Mount St Joseph RC High School a Voluntary Academy£6,182

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Bolton: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered