Raise Rochdale Pupil Referral Service
Raise Rochdale Pupil Referral Service is a pupil referral unit in Rochdale for boys and girls aged 5 to 16. It has 136 pupils. About 70 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was requires improvement, back in 2024.
Saxon Hall, Samson Street, Rochdale, OL16 2XW0300 303 8384raiserochdale.orgMr David Shields headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 21 May 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Requires improvement overall.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 12 July 2023 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
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 the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (103), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (18), Moderate learning difficulty (2), language and communications needs (2), Autistic spectrum disorder (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 136 | 186 | 164 | 123 | 97 | 103 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 70% | 66% | 63% | 59% | 61% | 60% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 1% | 8% | 5% | 7% | 1% | 1% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 90% | 96% | 93% | 100% | 100% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 10% | 4% | 2% | 0% | 0% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 38 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 55%, compared with 67% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 58% | 36% | 56% |
| Education | 47% | 29% | 48% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 2% | 2% |
| Work | 8% | 4% | 6% |
| Not in education, work or training | 18% | 42% | 31% |
Staff
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025.
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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfield Community School | Council | 130 m | 429 | No overall grade 2025 | 24 | Compare |
| Heybrook Primary School | Council | 910 m | 688 | Good 2023 | 69 | Compare |
| Hamer Community Primary School | Council | 0.6 miles | 323 | Good 2024 | 49 | Compare |
| Springside | Council | 0.6 miles | 152 | Report card 2026 | – | Compare |
| Alice Ingham Roman Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy | Academy | 0.6 miles | 117 | Good 2024 | 24 | Compare |
| Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | Academy | 0.7 miles | 219 | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
| Moorhouse Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 210 | Good 2023 | 20 | Compare |
| Kentmere Primary Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 353 | Outstanding 2024 | 85 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Raise Rochdale Pupil Referral Service a good school?
Raise Rochdale Pupil Referral Service doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it requires improvement at its last inspection in May 2024.
What is Raise Rochdale Pupil Referral Service's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Raise Rochdale Pupil Referral Service requires improvement at its last full inspection on 21 May 2024.
How many pupils does Raise Rochdale Pupil Referral Service have?
136 pupils aged 5 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Saxon Hall, Samson Street, Rochdale, OL16 2XW
- Telephone
- 0300 303 8384
- Website
- www.raiserochdale.org
- Headteacher
- Mr David Shields
- Type of school
- Pupil referral unit (Pupil referral unit, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 5-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Ward
- Smallbridge & Firgrove
- Constituency
- Rochdale
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2001
- URN
- 133409 · LAESTAB 3541100 · UKPRN 10016454
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.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- 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.