The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy

Oldham · OL9 6BP

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 950 pupils, 41.7% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 11.7% on SEN support Behaviour 4.7% absence rate Staff 5.1% turnover Financials £8,676 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy

General Information

Address: Bloom Street, Shaw, Oldham, OL9 6BP – View on map
Phone: 01617855085
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Allison Ash
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 458 families put it first for 224 places – 20 for every 10 places. 32% of them were offered a place. 2 of the 224 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 11 · 2024 21 · 2025 20 · 2026 20
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

950 pupils out of 1200 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 396
% eligible for free school meals: 41.7%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Oldham average)
English as an additional language: 38% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 5.1% a year (Oldham 18.3%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 22% moved to another school, 78% 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 Oldham: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 11 (0.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 6 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 14 (0.8 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 Oldham, 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: 4.7%
Persistently absent pupils: 10.4%
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: 11.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.1%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 38 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 25 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 15 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 11 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 8 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 19 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 9 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
Physical disability: 3 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 2 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

No overall grade given 2025 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

An Attainment 8 score for this school hasn't been added yet.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,676 (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.

4th of 14 secondary schools in Oldham for spending per pupil

#2Co-op Academy Failsworth£9,001
#3The Hathershaw College£8,715
#4The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy£8,676
#5Oasis Academy Oldham£8,589
#6Oasis Academy Leesbrook£8,181

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

#1Waterhead Academy£9,614
#2Co-op Academy Failsworth£9,001
#3The Hathershaw College£8,715
#4The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy£8,676
#5Oasis Academy Oldham£8,589
#6Oasis Academy Leesbrook£8,181
#7E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy£7,654
#8The Crompton House Church of England Academy£7,497
#9The Blue Coat CofE School£7,469
#10North Chadderton School£7,312
#11E-ACT the Oldham Academy North£6,867
#12Saint John Henry Newman Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy£4,172
#13Saddleworth School£3,227
#14The Radclyffe School£3,056

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

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