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Best secondary schools in Rochdale

10 of 17 secondary schools ranked by Progress 8 · all Rochdale schools · primary schools

Ranked on Progress 8, 2023/24 — the most recent year each school has published. Official data, not our opinion — but the ranking is only as good as the measure, and a single number never describes a school.

# School Progress 8 Ofsted Places Catchment
1 Hollingworth Academy Rochdale -0.02 Good about even 1.06 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
2 Matthew Moss High School Rochdale -0.03 Good about even 1.0 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
3 Oulder Hill Leadership Academy Rochdale -0.11 Not judged undersubscribed 0.83 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
4 Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School Manchester -0.12 Good oversubscribed 1.37 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
5 Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College Heywood -0.32 Good oversubscribed 1.27 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
6 St Anne's Church of England Academy Manchester -0.34 Good oversubscribed 1.16 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
7 Newhouse Academy Heywood -0.36 Requires improvement undersubscribed 0.63 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
8 Dixons Middleton Academy Manchester hidden gem -0.44 Good undersubscribed 0.73 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
9 Kingsway Park High School Rochdale hidden gem -0.49 Good about even 0.9 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
10 Wardle Academy Rochdale hidden gem -0.49 Good improving about even 0.98 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate

Also in Rochdale

7 further secondary schools with no published Progress 8 for the latest year — usually too small a cohort to report, newly opened, or a special school. Listed because leaving them out would make this a misleading picture of Rochdale, not a fairer one.

Applying in Rochdale

Knowing which school is best is only half of it — these are the deadlines that decide whether you can apply at all.

Rankings compare published results. They do not tell you which school your child will get into — that depends on where you live, sibling and faith priority, and how many people apply this year. Ask below, or check the Rochdale admission criteria.

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