Smithills School
About the school
Smithills School is an open secondary school in Bolton.
Latest Ofsted inspection
Published Ofsted information, current as at 31 July 2026. Inspection outcomes are not performance rankings.
- Latest inspection
- 31 March 2026
- Published
- 7 June 2026
- Inspection type
- S5 Inspection
Published inspection outcomes
Safeguarding
Met
Inclusion
Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching
Needs attention
Achievement
Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour
Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing
Needs attention
Leadership and governance
Needs attention
Previous inspection framework
These judgements are retained by Ofsted from an earlier inspection framework.
Overall effectiveness
Requires improvement
Quality of education
Requires improvement
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Requires improvement
Safeguarding
Yes
Early years
Not applicable
Sixth form
Not applicable
Results and school context
GCSE and key stage 4
Attainment 8
- School
- 36.5
- Bolton
- 45.7
- England
- 46.1
Progress 8
The DfE has not published this measure for 2024/25.
- School
- N/A
- Bolton
- N/A
- England
- N/A
English and maths grade 5+
- School
- 20.10%
- Bolton
- 43.90%
- England
- 45.40%
English and maths grade 4+
- School
- 47.00%
- Bolton
- 64.60%
- England
- 64.80%
EBacc entry
- School
- 32.10%
- Bolton
- 33.30%
- England
- 40.50%
EBacc average point score
- School
- 3.25
- Bolton
- 3.95
- England
- 4.09
Pupil context and attendance
DfE context data for 2024/25. These characteristics provide context and are not quality ratings.
Pupils on roll
1201
Girls
51.29%
Boys
48.71%
SEN support
12.32%
Education, health and care plan
2.00%
English as an additional language
58.80%
Eligible for free school meals in the past six years
42.38%
Overall absence
9.44
Persistent absence
28.2
Pupil destinations
DfE destination measures from the 2024/25 release. These outcomes are published after a time lag.
After Key Stage 4
Cohort
171
Sustained education or employment
87%
Education
78%
Apprenticeship
4%
Employment
5%
Not sustained
9%