Hazel Wood High School
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Hazel Wood High School is a sponsored academy in Bury for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 671 pupils, 71 more than it has places for. About 57 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 33 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 49% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Hazel Avenue, Bury, BL9 7QT0161 797 6543hazelwoodhigh.co.ukMrs Adele Hulton headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 13 March 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
138 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019† | 2018† | Bury | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 138 | 139 | 127 | 122 | 114 | 109 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 35.7 | 42.1 | 39.4 | 39.9 | 33.1 | 34.3 | 43.3 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | +0.02 | +0.24 | -0.20 | -0.90 | -0.71 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 25% | 34% | 24% | 30% | 19% | 18% | 38% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 46% | 59% | 46% | 47% | 45% | 38% | 62% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.25 | 3.79 | 3.22 | 3.29 | 3.04 | 3.21 | 3.78 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 62% | 41% | 24% | 22% | 33% | 67% | 30% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 29.3 | 34.1 | 34.3 | 35.6 | 30.9 | 31.4 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 41.5 | 46.9 | 43.2 | 42.8 | 35.1 | 37.0 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 27.8 | 32.0 | 33.6 | 17.9 | 22.1 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 64.6 | 65.7 | 64.5 | 42.9 | 48.5 | – | – |
† These results are for Broad Oak Sports College, the school this one replaced in April 2019. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Subjects
Results came out for 10 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Spanish (28% here, 54% across England), English Literature (33% here, 58% across England), History (27% here, 52% across England), Mathematics (30% here, 53% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Literature | 138 | 9% | 33% | 50% | 58% | 2,998 of 3,202 |
| English Language | 138 | 10% | 39% | 52% | 54% | 2,613 of 3,210 |
| Mathematics | 137 | 8% | 30% | 55% | 53% | 2,967 of 3,211 |
| Combined Science | 135 | 7% | 24% | 41% | 36% | 2,355 of 3,084 |
| Spanish | 83 | 10% | 28% | 39% | 54% | 1,743 of 1,941 |
| History | 77 | 7% | 27% | 39% | 52% | 2,871 of 3,126 |
| Religious Studies | 52 | 37% | 64% | 77% | 60% | 853 of 1,825 |
| Geography | 35 | 9% | 37% | 40% | 51% | 2,276 of 3,116 |
| Other Modern Languages | 10 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 49% | – |
| Music | 10 | 0% | 10% | 30% | 61% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
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. None of the gaps is 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
Admissions policy not published.
The school is full, with 40 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place.
| Entry | Places | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 120 | – all offered | LA |
| 2025 Secondary | 120 | – all offered | LA |
| 2024 Secondary | 120 | 1.4 miles | LA |
| 2023 Secondary | 120 | 1.1 miles | LA |
| 2022 Secondary | 120 | 3.2 miles | LA |
| 2021 Secondary | 120 | – all offered | LA |
The distances are the council's own, usually measured in a straight line from home to the school gate. If the distance is getting shorter each year, the school is getting harder to get into. See which councils we have this data for.
What a home within 1.4 miles of the school costs
Every home sold within that distance of the school (the typical cut-off over the last three years), of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
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 (46), language and communications needs (32), Moderate learning difficulty (22), Specific learning difficulty (21), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), Multi-sensory impairment (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 671 | 720 | 728 | 716 | 688 | 654 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 57% | 54% | 49% | 45% | 42% | 39% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 41% | 37% | 37% | 39% | 40% | 39% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 12% | 10% | 8% | 6% | 18% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 89.6% 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 | 10.4% | 8.7% | 9.5% | 8.9% | 10.9% | 7.9% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.6% | 3.5% | 5.2% | 5.3% | 8.1% | – | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 5.8% | 5.2% | 4.2% | 3.7% | 2.9% | – | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 29.7% | 26.5% | 29.5% | 28.1% | 35.4% | 23.9% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 58.2 | 37.2 | 38.1 | 26.6 | 19.4 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 8 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 127 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 80%, compared with 89% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 85% | 83% | 87% | 87% |
| Education | 83% | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 3% | 0% |
| Work | 2% | 6% | 6% | 5% |
| Not in education, work or training | 13% | 15% | 10% | 12% |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bury Church of England High School | Academy | 1.3 miles | 802 | Report card 2026 | 55 | Compare |
| St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy | Academy | 1.4 miles | 1,027 | Good 2023 | 40 | Compare |
| The Derby High School | Academy | 1.6 miles | – | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College | Roman Catholic/Church of England | 2.1 miles | 768 | Report card 2026 | 34 | Compare |
| Unsworth Academy | Academy | 2.2 miles | 953 | Good 2019 | 59 | Compare |
| The Elton High School | Council | 2.3 miles | 1,017 | Report card 2026 | 31 | Compare |
| Newhouse Academy | Academy | 2.5 miles | 974 | Requires improvement 2023 | 12 | Compare |
| Star Radcliffe Academy | Free school | 2.8 miles | 286 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Hazel Wood High School with the 49 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 49 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 49 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Hazel Wood 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Albion Academy | Academy | 6.8 miles | 879 | Good 2023 | 52 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 33 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 33% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 25 to 45. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. 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 | 20% | below | -0.18 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 138 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 19% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.02 | Ofsted grade, 3.5 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | in line | -0.02 | DfE progress measure; 138 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | above | +0.09 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.09 | 2024/25; 752 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | in line | -0.03 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 138 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | well below | -0.06 | 127 pupils |
| 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 Hazel Wood High School a good school?
The figures are weak. Hazel Wood High School scores 33 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 49% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 25 to 45, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Hazel Wood High School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Hazel Wood High School good at its last full inspection on 13 March 2023.
How good are Hazel Wood High School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 25% 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 35.7, 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 Hazel Wood High School have?
671 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 600 places, so it is 112% full.
Is Hazel Wood High School oversubscribed?
Probably. The school was full in 2024/25, with 40 more pupils than places. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.
What is attendance like at Hazel Wood High School?
Pupils were in school 89.6% 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 Hazel Wood High School?
The average class had 23.9 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Hazel Wood High School have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 85% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Hazel Avenue, Bury, BL9 7QT
- Telephone
- 0161 797 6543
- Website
- www.hazelwoodhigh.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Adele Hulton
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Oak Learning Partnership (9 schools)
- Local authority
- Bury
- Ward
- Bury East
- Constituency
- Bury North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2019 (new provision)
- URN
- 146970 · LAESTAB 3514001 · UKPRN 10082914
- Formerly
- Broad Oak Sports College
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.
- Admissions outcomes: Bury council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- 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.