Waterhead Academy

State-Funded School

waterhead-academy-oldham-north-west

North WestRegion

OldhamLocal Authority

Oldham East and SaddleworthConstituency

OL4 3NYPostcode

1.5

Academic Performance

Ofsted

No overall grade

About the School

Waterhead Academy is a state-funded secondary for pupils aged 11–16, located in Oldham, North West.

It currently serves 761 pupils. Waterhead Academy is part of SOUTH PENNINE ACADEMIES.

Ofsted Rating

Safeguarding effective

Yes

Rating last maintained

2025

Subject Areas

Leadership &management

Requires improvement

Quality ofeducation

Requires improvement

Personaldevelopment

Good

Behaviour &attitudes

Requires improvement

Academic Performance

Well below average

Ranked against secondary schools in England · 2024-25

Attainment 8: 34
Grade 5+ in English & maths: 22%
EBacc average point score: 2.98

Ethnicity

White

52%

Asian

27%

Black

11%

Mixed

Chinese

<1%

Any other group

Unclassified

<1%

Pupils

761

Total Pupils

48%Boys

52%Girls

Pupil Characteristics

Free school meals

54%

England average

27%

First language not English

37%

England average

22%

Young carers

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: 761
IDACI quintile: 5 (Least deprived)
MAT name: SOUTH PENNINE ACADEMIES

Inspection history

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

Report published					Overall
12 Feb 2025	Requires improvement	Requires improvement	Good	Requires improvement	Not judged
18 Jan 2023	Inadequate	Inadequate	Requires improvement	Inadequate	Inadequate
8 May 2019	Requires improvement	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Requires improvement

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.