Hollingworth Academy

About Hollingworth Academy

Hollingworth Academy’s headline Progress 8 score of -0.02 is significantly above the Rochdale local authority average of -0.25, placing it first out of 15 secondary schools in the borough. This is a strong performance in a context where the LA average is notably negative, and it suggests the school is adding more value to pupils’ learning than most of its local peers. The school’s national ranking sits around the 50th percentile, meaning it is broadly in line with the average school across England, but within Rochdale it stands out as the top performer. Its Attainment 8 score of 45.9 also reflects solid academic outcomes, and 74% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, a key benchmark. The school is oversubscribed, with 717 applications for 261 places in 2025/26, and 242 of those came from first-preference families, indicating strong local demand.

Looking more closely at the exam data, Hollingworth’s Progress 8 banding is rated as ‘Average’, which aligns with its national percentile position. The school performs particularly well in maths, where the Progress 8 score is +0.17, meaning pupils make above-average progress in that subject compared with similar pupils nationally. English progress is slightly negative at -0.06, and the EBacc entry rate is 29.8%, with 11.7% of pupils achieving the full EBacc at grade 4 or above. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in December 2022 rated it Good across all categories, including behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership. This is a step down from its previous Outstanding rating in 2008, but the current inspection found no major weaknesses. The school has no sixth form, so pupils leave at 16, and its capacity of 1350 is almost full with 1339 pupils on roll.

Hollingworth Academy offers a wide range of facilities, including a swimming pool, theatre, sports hall, astro turf, tennis courts, and music rooms, which support an active extracurricular programme. Sports on offer include rugby, hockey, gymnastics, and cross country, while clubs range from art and drama to chess and eco club. The school has a comprehensive SEND provision, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language issues, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 27.5% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a diverse intake. For families in Rochdale looking for a secondary school that consistently outperforms the local average and offers strong facilities, Hollingworth Academy is a reliable choice, though those seeking a sixth form will need to plan for post-16 options elsewhere.

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