The Springboard Project
The Springboard Project is a special free school in Oldham for boys and girls aged 14 to 19. It has 155 pupils, 28 more than it has places for. About 72 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.
2 Medtia Square, Phoenix Street, Oldham, OL1 1AN0161 883 3250springboardproject.orgMr Andrew Howard headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 13 March 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
38 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 | Oldham | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 38 | 35 | 17 | 19 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 43.7 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -2.87 | -2.85 | -2.88 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 37% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 59% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 0.00 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.04 | 3.85 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 47% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 0.1 | 0.1 | – | 0.8 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 0.0 | 1.0 | – | 0.0 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | – | – |
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. Every gap at this school 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.
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 Oldham council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with social, emotional and mental health.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Oldham with social, emotional and mental health provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (145), Specific learning difficulty (4), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), language and communications needs (2), Other difficulty or disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 155 | 141 | 97 | 65 | 54 | 50 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 72% | 65% | 63% | 69% | 59% | 72% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 51.5% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 48.5% | 45.6% | 41.9% | 39.7% | 37.5% | 38.2% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 27.4% | 28.6% | 28.6% | 20.7% | 30.1% | – | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 21.1% | 17.1% | 13.3% | 19.1% | 7.4% | – | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 92.9% | 86.8% | 77.3% | 82.9% | 84.0% | 84.6% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 2.1 | 0.0 | 75.4 | 35.2 | 34.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 17 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 76% | 100% | 81% |
| Education | 71% | 100% | 81% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 18% | 0% | 14% |
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 special 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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Future Finders Employability College | Special post 16 institution | 80 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Oldham Sixth Form College | Academy 16-19 converter | 330 m | 0 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Westwood Boys School | Independent | 470 m | 44 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| The Oldham College | Further education | 570 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| St Patrick's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | Academy | 580 m | 166 | Requires improvement 2023 | 1 | Compare |
| The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy | Free school | 600 m | 950 | No overall grade 2025 | 87 | Compare |
| Greenhill Academy | Academy | 620 m | 524 | Good 2020 | 15 | Compare |
| St Thomas CofE Primary School | Academy | 730 m | 491 | Good 2019 | 23 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Springboard Project a good school?
The Springboard Project doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in March 2024.
What is The Springboard Project's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Springboard Project good at its last full inspection on 13 March 2024.
How good are The Springboard Project's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 0% 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 0.1, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished well over a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does The Springboard Project have?
155 pupils aged 14 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 127 places, so it is 122% full.
What is attendance like at The Springboard Project?
Pupils were in school 51.5% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 93% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does The Springboard Project have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for social, emotional and mental health. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does The Springboard Project have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 2 Medtia Square, Phoenix Street, Oldham, OL1 1AN
- Telephone
- 0161 883 3250
- Website
- www.springboardproject.org
- Headteacher
- Mr Andrew Howard
- Type of school
- Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 14-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- New Bridge Multi Academy Trust (8 schools)
- Local authority
- Oldham
- Ward
- Coldhurst
- Constituency
- Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 2 September 2019
- URN
- 145922 · LAESTAB 3537003 · UKPRN 10083795
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.
- 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.