Edgar Wood Academy
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Edgar Wood Academy is a free school in Heywood for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 729 pupils and room for 900. About 43 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 16 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 38% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in June 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Heywood Old Road, Heywood, OL10 2QN0161 676 9620edgarwood.orgMr Paul Jones headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 2 June 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 21 November 2023 | S5 Inspection | Requires improvement |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
0 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. Fewer than eleven pupils sat the exams, so the figures could identify individual children.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
283 places were empty (31% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have grown by 471% since 2021/22.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Rochdale council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (57), language and communications needs (33), Moderate learning difficulty (22), Autistic spectrum disorder (20), Specific learning difficulty (9), Vision impairment (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 729 | 637 | 476 | 295 | 111 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 43% | 41% | 37% | 37% | 26% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 17% | 14% | 13% | 13% | 5% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 14% | 15% | 15% | 23% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 4% | 3% | 2% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.3% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 9.7% | 11.5% | 9.4% | 8.8% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.1% | 5.8% | 4.8% | 5.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 5.7% | 5.7% | 4.5% | 3.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 30.7% | 36.5% | 31.5% | 29.5% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 67.8 | 135.9 | 26.8 | 26.1 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Anne's Church of England Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 817 | Good 2024 | 29 | Compare |
| Newhouse Academy | Academy | 1.4 miles | 974 | Requires improvement 2023 | 12 | Compare |
| Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School | Roman Catholic | 1.7 miles | 1,186 | Good 2022 | 42 | Compare |
| Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College | Roman Catholic/Church of England | 1.7 miles | 768 | Report card 2026 | 34 | Compare |
| Our Lady's RC High School | Roman Catholic | 1.8 miles | 1,046 | Report card 2025 | 84 | Compare |
| Unsworth Academy | Academy | 2.0 miles | 953 | Good 2019 | 59 | Compare |
| Parrenthorn High School | Academy | 2.0 miles | 1,025 | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Dixons Middleton Academy | Academy | 2.1 miles | 1,319 | Good 2024 | 16 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Edgar Wood Academy with the 48 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 48 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 48 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Edgar Wood Academy, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Anne's Church of England Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 817 | Good 2024 | 29 | Compare |
| Philips High School | Academy | 3.3 miles | 868 | Requires improvement 2022 | 66 | Compare |
| Droylsden Academy | Academy | 6.2 miles | 926 | Good 2022 | 55 | Compare |
| Kearsley Academy | Academy | 6.9 miles | 768 | Good 2022 | 74 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 16 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 16% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 8 to 30. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | below | -0.20 | Ofsted report card, 0.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.25 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.22 | 2024/25; 680 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What pupils do next | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Edgar Wood Academy a good school?
The figures are weak. Edgar Wood Academy scores 16 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 38% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 8 to 30, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Edgar Wood Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 2 June 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does Edgar Wood Academy have?
729 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 900 places, so it is 81% full.
Is Edgar Wood Academy oversubscribed?
Probably not. 283 places were empty in 2024/25 (31% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Edgar Wood Academy?
Pupils were in school 90.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 31% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Edgar Wood Academy?
The average class had 22.3 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Edgar Wood Academy have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Heywood Old Road, Heywood, OL10 2QN
- Telephone
- 0161 676 9620
- Website
- www.edgarwood.org
- Headteacher
- Mr Paul Jones
- Type of school
- Free school (Free schools, free schools)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Altus Education Partnership (5 schools)
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Ward
- West Middleton
- Constituency
- Heywood and Middleton North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2021 (new provision)
- URN
- 148596 · LAESTAB 3544004 · UKPRN 10088755
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.