Falinge Park High School
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Falinge Park High School is a converter academy in Rochdale for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 1,344 pupils, 6 more than it has places for. About 48 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 21 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 10% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Falinge Road, Shawclough, Rochdale, OL12 6LD01706 631246falingepark.comMrs Paula O'Reilly headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 3 February 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that, although the inspectors did raise some concerns, so a full inspection will follow. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
274 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England. These are the results of Falinge Park High School, the school this one replaced.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | 2023† | 2022† | 2019† | 2018† | Rochdale | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 274 | 265 | 264 | 271 | 236 | 226 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 40.5 | 40.8 | 39.7 | 39.8 | 38.5 | 42.2 | 42.0 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.03 | -0.28 | -0.44 | -0.45 | -0.03 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 36% | 33% | 36% | 29% | 30% | 36% | 36% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 55% | 52% | 56% | 49% | 46% | 58% | 58% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.37 | 3.27 | 3.22 | 3.29 | 3.22 | 3.45 | 3.59 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 25% | 13% | 10% | 15% | 15% | 15% | 31% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 36.6 | 37.7 | 33.6 | 36.3 | 33.1 | 39.8 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 43.5 | 42.8 | 43.7 | 41.9 | 42.4 | 44.1 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 26.7 | 25.1 | 28.1 | 21.2 | 23.1 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 65.3 | 58.8 | 63.3 | 52.0 | 58.1 | – | – |
† These results are for Falinge Park High School, the school this one replaced in October 2024. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 2 of the 3 gaps are smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference.
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: language and communications needs (70), emotional and mental health (67), Moderate learning difficulty (54), Autistic spectrum disorder (37), Specific learning difficulty (18), Hearing impairment (4).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 1,344 | 1,359 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 48% | 45% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 71% | 66% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 16% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 89.7% 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† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 10.3% | 10.8% | 10.5% | 11.6% | 9.4% | 6.9% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.3% | 5.0% | 5.8% | 6.5% | 6.4% | 3.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 6.0% | 5.8% | 4.7% | 5.1% | 2.9% | 3.2% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 30.5% | 35.4% | 33.7% | 39.0% | 28.6% | 18.9% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 14.6 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for Falinge Park High School, the school this one replaced in October 2024. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oulder Hill Leadership Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 1,152 | No overall grade 2025 | 66 | Compare |
| Matthew Moss High School | Academy | 1.8 miles | 1,198 | Good 2024 | 32 | Compare |
| Kingsway Park High School | Academy | 1.9 miles | 1,289 | Not inspected | 12 | Compare |
| Wardle Academy | Academy | 2.1 miles | 1,366 | Good 2022 | 34 | Compare |
| Whitworth Community High School | Council | 2.3 miles | 654 | Good 2023 | 70 | Compare |
| St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy | Academy | 2.7 miles | 1,023 | Requires improvement 2022 | 2 | Compare |
| Hollingworth Academy | Academy | 3.0 miles | 1,331 | Good 2022 | 68 | Compare |
| Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College | Roman Catholic/Church of England | 3.5 miles | 768 | Report card 2026 | 34 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Falinge Park High School with the 50 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 50 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 50 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Falinge Park High School, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-ACT the Oldham Academy North | Academy | 4.8 miles | 1,258 | Not inspected | 79 | Compare |
| Our Lady's RC High School | Roman Catholic | 6.4 miles | 1,046 | Report card 2025 | 84 | Compare |
| Manchester Enterprise Academy Central | Free school | 12.5 miles | 1,049 | Good 2022 | 62 | Compare |
| William Hulme's Grammar School | Academy | 12.8 miles | 1,542 | Not inspected | 82 | Compare |
| Blackburn Central High School | Academy | 14.6 miles | 1,015 | Good 2022 | 33 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 21 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 21% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 11 to 39. 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 | 19% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | below | -0.34 | Ofsted grade, 3.6 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.17 | 2024/25; 1,409 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 Falinge Park High School a good school?
The figures are weak. Falinge Park High School scores 21 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 10% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 11 to 39, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Falinge Park High School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Falinge Park High School good at its last full inspection on 3 February 2023.
How good are Falinge Park High School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 36% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 40.5, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about level with children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Falinge Park High School have?
1,344 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,338 places, so it is 100% full.
Is Falinge Park High School oversubscribed?
Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.
What is attendance like at Falinge Park High School?
Pupils were in school 89.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 30% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Falinge Park High School?
The average class had 26.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 18% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Falinge Park High School 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
- Falinge Road, Shawclough, Rochdale, OL12 6LD
- Telephone
- 01706 631246
- Website
- www.falingepark.com
- Headteacher
- Mrs Paula O'Reilly
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Watergrove Trust (9 schools)
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Ward
- Healey
- Constituency
- Heywood and Middleton North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 October 2024 (academy converter)
- URN
- 150227 · LAESTAB 3544086 · UKPRN 10093453
- Formerly
- Falinge Park High School
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.