Smithills School

State-Funded School

smithills-school-bolton-north-west

North WestRegion

BoltonLocal Authority

Bolton WestConstituency

BL1 6JSPostcode

0.1

Academic Performance

Previous Ofsted

About the School

Smithills School is a state-funded secondary for pupils aged 11–16, located in Bolton, North West.

Ofsted's most recent inspection is published as a report card rather than a single overall grade. It currently serves 1,203 pupils. Smithills School is part of The Bolton Impact Trust.

Ofsted Report Card

Inspected 31 Mar 2026 · published 7 Jun 2026

Current inspection

Safeguarding standards

Met

Evaluation areas

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 Ofsted Rating

Subject Areas (previous framework)

Leadership &management

Requires improvement

Quality ofeducation

Requires improvement

Personaldevelopment

Good

Behaviour &attitudes

Good

Academic Performance

Well below average

Ranked against secondary schools in England · 2024-25

Attainment 8: 36.5
Grade 5+ in English & maths: 20.1%
EBacc average point score: 3.25

Ethnicity

White

34%

Asian

42%

Black

13%

Mixed

Chinese

<1%

Any other group

Unclassified

<1%

Pupils

1,203

Total Pupils

48%Boys

52%Girls

Pupil Characteristics

Free school meals

42%

England average

27%

First language not English

61%

England average

22%

Young carers

<1%

England average

0%25%50%75%100%

DfE school census, January 2026.

Key Information

Phase: Secondary
Age range: 11 – 16
Deprivation band: Most deprived
Total pupils: 1,203
IDACI quintile: 5 (Least deprived)
MAT name: The Bolton Impact Trust

Inspection history

2 graded inspections published by Ofsted. Ungraded and monitoring visits are not shown.

Report published					Overall
23 Oct 2023	Requires improvement	Requires improvement	Good	Good	Requires improvement
13 Jul 2018	Good	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Good

A grey dot means Ofsted did not report that judgement in the inspection of the day — the sub-judgements shown here were introduced with the 2019 framework.

Ofsted data as at 31 December 2024. A school may have been inspected since, or had an ungraded visit that does not change its grade — check Ofsted’s own record.