The Hathershaw College

Oldham · OL8 3EP

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 1034 pupils, 54.3% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN Resourced provision · 15.1% on SEN support Behaviour 7.6% absence rate Staff 12.6% turnover Financials £8,715 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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The Hathershaw College

General Information

Address: Bellfield Avenue, Hathershaw, Oldham, OL8 3EP – View on map
Phone: 01617708555
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Susie Fraser
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 167 families put it first for 200 places – 8 for every 10 places. 95% of them were offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 12 · 2024 11 · 2025 9 · 2026 8
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1034 pupils out of 1050 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 561
% eligible for free school meals: 54.3%
Pupil mix: 7 in 10 (more mixed than the Oldham average)
English as an additional language: 47% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 12.6% a year (Oldham 18.3%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 41% moved to another school, 59% 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.

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: 7.6%
Persistently absent pupils: 24.2%
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

Resourced provision for Hearing impairment 12 places · 18 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 15.1%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.4%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 61 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 44 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 31 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 8 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 16 pupils
Hearing impairment: 15 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 12 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 7 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 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

Ofsted report card April 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Leadership and governance Needs attention

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Attainment 8 score: 39.3
Compared with the area: 4.8 points below the Oldham average (44.1)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (−6.1 points against an expected 45.4)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 47% (Oldham 60%, England 65%) Falling
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 schoolOldham averageEngland↘ Falling Down 3.2 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 4.8 points below the Oldham average (44.1).

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.

8th of 10 secondary schools in Oldham for Attainment 8

#6Oasis Academy Oldham42.8
#7Oasis Academy Leesbrook41.5
#8The Hathershaw College39.3
#9E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy38.7
#10Waterhead Academy34.0

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1The Blue Coat CofE School59.1
#2E-ACT the Oldham Academy North48.2
#3The Crompton House Church of England Academy46.8
#4North Chadderton School43.8
#5Co-op Academy Failsworth43.0
#6Oasis Academy Oldham42.8
#7Oasis Academy Leesbrook41.5
#8The Hathershaw College39.3
#9E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy38.7
#10Waterhead Academy34.0

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 87.0%
Went into further education: 85.0%
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 Literature
English Language
Science Double Award
D & T
Geography
History
Food Technology
French Language
Business Studies
Psychology (General)
Art & Design
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Computer Science
Media Studies
Religious Studies
Music Studies (General)
Italian
Spanish
Urdu
Portuguese
Polish
Russian

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

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,715 (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.

3rd of 14 secondary schools in Oldham for spending per pupil

#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

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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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Oldham: 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 ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered