Academy converter

St James's Church of England High School

Mixed · ages 11–16 · no sixth form · Church of EnglandBolton, North West · Bolton BL4 9RUTrust: The Bishop Fraser TrustSchool website
Pupils on roll
1,053of 1,050 places
Free school meals
20.1%
Year 11 cohort 2025
207
Ofsted
Good, 2 November 2022Read the Ofsted report

Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: St James's Church of England High School (URN 105266, until 1 April 2017).

What the data says

St James's Church of England High School has no sixth form. Of the 209 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 23% moved to a sixth form college, 58% to a further education college and 6% started an apprenticeship.

Sociology is unusually popular at GCSE: 28% of the year group took it, against 4% of pupils across England.

GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 53.5 against 46.1 across England and 45.7 in Bolton, with 58% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).

As an 11–16 school, St James's Church of England High School is judged on where pupils go at 16 rather than on A level results.

Where pupils went after Year 11

Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Bolton and England.

This school
Bolton
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureThis schoolBoltonEngland
Pupils in the cohort2093,886607,348
Any sustained destination92%90%92%
Stayed in education83%84%86%
— school sixth form1%12%34%
— sixth form college23%25%13%
— further education college58%45%37%
— other education1%2%2%
Apprenticeship6%3%3%
Employment3%3%3%
No sustained destination7%7%6%
Destination unknown1%3%3%

GCSE results 2025

MeasureThis schoolBoltonEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)53.545.746.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths58%44%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths82%65%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects38%33%41%
EBacc average point score4.693.954.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort21%32%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils44.636.634.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils55.849.850.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language11%29%19%

Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.

Subjects taken at GCSE

Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
Mathematics20298%88%24%22%85%
English Language20298%89%30%20%83%
English Literature20197%86%29%21%85%
Religious Studies19996%31%38%32%84%
Combined Science14068%65%9%9%71%
Geography11957%41%36%25%81%
History9043%41%36%26%80%
Biology6029%23%62%45%100%
Physics6029%23%45%46%95%
Chemistry6029%23%43%47%100%
Sociology5828%4%43%21%83%
Spanish4924%19%22%27%84%
Physical Education4220%11%17%24%95%
Business Studies4120%18%20%20%71%
Fine Art3617%9%33%28%75%
French3517%18%40%29%66%
Design and Technology3316%11%15%23%64%
Computer Science2814%13%39%30%93%
Photography199%6%32%19%89%
Music178%5%35%33%88%
Food Preparation and Nutrition126%8%17%21%92%
Citizenship Studies126%3%83%19%100%
Polish31%1%84%
Astronomy21%0%29%
German10%5%33%
Russian10%0%87%
Portuguese10%0%50%

Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Speech and Drama19
Sports / Movement Science14
Building / Construction Operations (General / Combined)12
Computer Appreciation / Introduction9
Music performance: Group9

Other secondary schools in Bolton

Canon Slade School

Academy converter · sixth form · 1,724 pupils

91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 53.9

Essa Academy

Academy sponsor led · 1,055 pupils

91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 53.0

Harper Green School

Academy converter · 1,070 pupils

77% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.8

Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.