Bury Church of England High School, Bury

Ofsted's report card from its 6 May 2026 inspection grades Bury Church of England High School on 6 areas: 1 strong standard and 5 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Personal development and wellbeing are at the heart of leaders' work at this school."

Achievement - Expected standard. "Pupils' achievement in public examinations at the end of key stage 4 is broadly in line with national averages."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders use information about attendance well to track and monitor patterns of absence."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have improved the ambition of the curriculum."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders have strengthened their work to identify any barriers to pupils' learning and/or wellbeing."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Recently, leaders have made positive changes to school life."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to strengthen the consistency of teaching across the school so that pupils can learn the ambitious curriculum that has been planned and achieve well"; "Leaders should continue to develop strategies to improve rates of attendance, in particular for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities".

In 2026, pupils at Bury Church of England High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 51.5, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 43.2 in Bury and 47 across England.

60% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 39% in Bury and 47% in England.

That is up from 49.1 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.31: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 42.3, against 53.5 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 11.2 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 26 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 108 families put Bury Church of England High School as their first choice and 444 named it as one of their preferences, for 127 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 1 family who put it first was not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Bury Church of England High School are St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy (0.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.2); The Derby High School (0.3 miles); The Derby High School (0.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 44); and Hazel Wood High School (1.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 35.6).

Bury Church of England High School's 2026 results were higher than all 3 of them.

Bury Church of England High School is one of 8 schools run by The Bishop Fraser Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 49.5 in 2024/25.

Of the 161 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 89% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 57% to a further education college, 4% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.

7.4% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (72%), Asian (8%) and Black (7%).

The nearest tram or metro stop is Bury (Manchester Metrolink), about 700 metres away (roughly a 9-minute walk).

4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Haslam Brow (n-bound), 50 metres away.

In 2024/25, Bury Church of England High School issued 198 suspensions, 23.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 2 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Bury Church of England High School are St Luke's CofE Primary School (0.4 miles); Holy Trinity Primary School (0.5 miles); St. Marie's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy (0.5 miles); and St Peter's Church of England Primary School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.