Bury Church of England High School

About Bury Church of England High School

Bury Church of England High School’s headline Progress 8 score of -0.31 places it significantly below the Bury local authority average of -0.02 for secondary schools, a gap of nearly three-tenths of a grade per subject. This ranks the school 11th out of 14 schools in the borough, putting it in the bottom half locally and in the bottom 50% nationally. The school’s Progress 8 banding is officially classed as “Below average,” and its Attainment 8 score of 46 is modest. While the school is oversubscribed — 449 applications for 158 places in 2025/26, with 140 first-preference applications — this popularity may reflect its Church of England character and community ties rather than headline academic performance. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Requires Improvement overall, a downgrade from its previous Good rating in 2011. However, inspectors noted that behaviour and attitudes, as well as personal development, remain Good, suggesting the school retains strengths in pastoral care and pupil conduct even as leadership and management and the quality of education need improvement.

Academically, the picture is mixed. At KS4, 72% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, but this drops to 50.9% when measured at the stronger grade 5 or above threshold. The EBacc entry rate stands at 32.3%, with 27.3% achieving a grade 4 or above across the EBacc subjects and just 18.6% reaching grade 5 or above. The school’s EBacc average points score is 4.12. Breaking down Progress 8 by subject area, English and open subjects are the weakest, with scores of -0.37 and -0.38 respectively, while the EBacc element is slightly less negative at -0.21. Maths sits at -0.31. These figures suggest that pupils typically leave with results below what their prior attainment would predict, particularly in English and the open bucket. The school does not have a sixth form, so all pupils leave at 16, and the lack of post-16 provision may influence how the school prioritises GCSE outcomes.

The school offers a wide range of facilities including a theatre, chapel, music rooms, art studios, and a sports hall, plus playing fields and tennis courts. Sports provision is extensive, with options from netball and rugby to rowing and martial arts, and there are clubs covering debate, orchestra, art, coding, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. SEND support is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional needs, speech and language challenges, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. The school is oversubscribed, with a ratio of 2.84 applicants per place, and made 135 offers to first-preference applicants out of 140 who put it first. This is a school that suits families who value a Church of England ethos, strong pastoral care (as reflected in the Good behaviour and personal development ratings), and a broad extracurricular offer, but who are prepared to work with the school on raising academic outcomes from their current below-average position.

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