The Elton High School, Bury

Ofsted's report card from its 24 February 2026 inspection grades The Elton High School on 6 areas: 6 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Expected standard. "Typically, pupils make secure progress through the curriculum as they move through year groups."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders have secured overall attendance that is in line with national figures."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have a secure understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders have established an increasingly inclusive culture where pupils' individual needs are understood and responded to with care."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders have a secure understanding of the school's strengths and priorities for further improvement."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Leaders have strengthened the personal, social and health education curriculum."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to strengthen the consistency of the curriculum and teaching to enhance pupils' learning experiences across all subjects and improve outcomes for all pupils"; "Leaders and governors should further strengthen their oversight and deepen their evaluation of existing strategies so that actions are more sharply coordinated and lead to sustained and rapid improvement"; "Leaders should continue to refine how they deploy resources to ensure that all pupils' needs are fully met"; "Leaders and governors should build on their work to improve pupils' attendance by ensuring that support and interventions are timely and have a sustained impact, particularly for older pupils and specific groups where attendance is a barrier to learning".

In its own words: "The Elton High School is a co-educational Community Comprehensive High School for students aged 11-16 years. The school accommodates approximately 1000 students in a brand new building that was opened for September 2016."

In 2026, pupils at The Elton High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 47.4, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 43.2 in Bury and 47 across England.

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

That is up from 44.3 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.24: 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 37.9, against 50.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 12.4 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Statistics, Combined Science and History.

For September 2026 entry, 277 families put The Elton High School as their first choice and 575 named it as one of their preferences, for 210 places offered. That is 1.3 first choices for every place. 76 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to The Elton High School are Tottington High School (0.9 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 38.9); St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.2); Bury Church of England High School (1.4 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 51.5); and The Derby High School (1.5 miles).

The Elton High School's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 3 schools.

147 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Elton High School (as of April 2026): 78% would recommend the school, 77% say their child is happy there and 46% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (78%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (46%).

Of the 210 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 88% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 50% to a further education college, 2% 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 (81%), Asian (8%) and Mixed (5%).

The nearest tram or metro stop is Bury Bolton Street (East Lancashire Railway), about 1.3 miles away in a straight line.

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Elton High School (adjacent), 30 metres away.

In 2024/25, The Elton High School issued 300 suspensions, 29.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to The Elton High School are Guardian Angels Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy (0.5 miles); Christ Church CofE Primary School (0.5 miles); Elton Community Primary School (0.5 miles); and Chantlers Primary School (0.5 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.