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Mount St Joseph RC High School a Voluntary Academy

Secondary · Bolton · BL4 0HT

Data updated

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Requires improvement

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: Requires improvementBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: GoodLeadership & management: Requires improvementSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 24 October 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

895 pupils · 99% of 900 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–16
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
37.4% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
40.6% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
14.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
4.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
https://www.msj.stoccat.org.uk/
URN
151356

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 143 families named it first for 174 Year 7 places, 0.82 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 0.93 miles; distance decided places in 5 of the 5 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2022 to 2026. Ofsted last graded it Requires improvement on 24 October 2023, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 10.2% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

0.82 first-choice applications per place

174 places offered · 143 first-choice applications · usually has places

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 0.93 miles for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 0.93 miles

measured in a straight line.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 42% (Bolton 53%, England 59%) · Asian Pakistani 30% (Bolton 15%, England 5%) · Black African 6% (Bolton 8%, England 5%) · Asian Indian 5% (Bolton 8%, England 4%) · Any other Asian background 4% (Bolton 2%, England 3%) · Any other White background 4% (Bolton 3%, England 7%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Bolton 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Bolton 2%, England 2%) · Any other Mixed background 1% (Bolton 2%, England 3%) · Any other Black background 1% (Bolton 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Bolton 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Bolton 1%, England 2%) · other groups together 1%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
10.2%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
28.4%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

30.97 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Bolton: 31.53 suspensions and 0.29 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
15.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

59.4% of teachers took sickness absence, 7.7 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £54,595; 11.7% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
4/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
5/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher27%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications23.5%18.1%
In managerial or professional work27.2%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways12.7%18.1%
Residents in very good health51.7%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier84.2%62.3%
Social housing1%17.1%
Privately rented14.8%20.5%
Detached houses20.3%22.9%
Flats0.4%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms22.5%21.1%
Households with no car or van10.9%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01004880 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£182,000348 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£140,000–£225,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (24)£353,500
Semi-detached (204)£200,000
Terraced (112)£140,000
Flat (8)£86,000

Homes around this school are cheaper than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (1.50 km, 2026 entry): 668 sales, median £170,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
1an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
2an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
15an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
2an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools