Waterhead Academy
Oldham, OL4 3NY · Oldham · secondary school
10th of 10 secondary schools in Oldham we can score, 14 in total — the rest without enough published data. Local and same-phase on purpose: a national table mostly measures who attends.
Narrow the comparison to schools whose pupils have similar backgrounds and it does better still — 1.4/10 against 324 of them, against 0.6/10 nationally. Both figures are results only, without the inspection grade. A lower figure here means a stronger comparison group, not a weaker school.
How this is worked out
| Measure | Percentile | Weight | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5+ English & maths 2024/25 | 22.0 · 5 | 46% | 0.24 |
| Progress 8 2023/24 | -0.72 · 8 | 38% | 0.30 |
| Attainment 8 2024/25 | 34.0 · 4 | 15% | 0.07 |
Each measure is read as a position among comparable schools, so a school in the middle of the country scores 5. Full method.
Get to know the school
How it's doing. In 2024/25, 22.0% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths. Attainment 8 was 34.0, against a national median of 44.6. Progress 8 in 2023/24 was -0.72, indicating pupils did worse than nationally similar peers. Narrow the comparison to schools whose pupils have similar backgrounds and it does better still (1.4 out of 10 against similar schools, 0.6 out of 10 against all schools).
Getting in. The school has 947 pupils in a capacity of 1500, leaving 553 spare places. This means the school has real spare room, so a place is likely and classes are smaller than it is built for.
Worth asking on a visit. How does the school support pupils to close the gap between their current attainment and the national median? What specific interventions are in place to improve progress scores for students from similar backgrounds? How do the smaller class sizes resulting from spare capacity affect individual teacher attention?
Written by AI from this school's published results, inspection record and its own website — not by Ofsted, the school, or SchoolsGPT staff. Every figure above comes from the sources on this page. Check anything that matters with the school.
Your offer chance
—Based on official applications/offers, distance and catchment where we have it. Bands only — never a percentage.
Sibling, faith, looked-after and other criteria can override distance. Always confirm with the school or local authority.
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