Which school has the best GCSE results in Rochdale?

On 2026 Attainment 8, Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College tops the table in Rochdale with 51.8, against an England average of 46.2. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so compare a school's grade 5+ pass rate and, where published, its Progress 8 before reading the rank as a verdict.

When are the 2026 GCSE results for Rochdale schools published?

Pupils receive their results in August, but school-by-school figures come from the DfE performance tables, which publish provisional results in the autumn (usually mid-October) and revised figures early in the new year. This table shows 2026 results, the 2025/26 academic year, and updates when the next release is imported.

What is Attainment 8?

Attainment 8 is the DfE's headline GCSE measure: the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. A score of 50 means pupils averaged roughly a grade 5 across those subjects. No Progress 8 exists for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021.

Why does a school in Rochdale show no GCSE results?

A school has no published figure when it had no Year 11 cohort in the year (a new school, or one that opened with younger year groups), when it converted to an academy and the DfE published results under its previous identity, or when it is independent and its pupils sat IGCSE, Pre-U or IB qualifications that the DfE tables do not count. Independent schools with a published figure are listed separately and unranked for that reason.

Rochdale GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

13 state secondary schools in Rochdale ranked on their 2026 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2025/26 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 7+, grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, cohort size for each school against the England average. 3 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

Local Authority 13 state secondary schools 2025/26 results

Secondary schools in Rochdale ranked on Attainment 8

13 of 13 schools have published 2026 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2025/26.

Secondary schools in Rochdale ranked on Attainment 8, 2026 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 7+ English & maths	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.2	14%	46%	65%	–	–
1 , up 4 places since 2025	Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College Heywood · Voluntary aided school	51.8	19%	63%	80%	–	148
2 , down 1 place since 2025	Hollingworth Academy Rochdale · Academy converter	50.6	17%	60%	80%	–	262
3 , up 3 places since 2025	Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School Manchester · Voluntary aided school	46.0	7%	43%	66%	–	210
4 , down 2 places since 2025	Oulder Hill Leadership Academy Rochdale · Academy sponsor led	45.8	9%	51%	68%	–	231
5 , down 2 places since 2025	Wardle Academy Rochdale · Academy converter	44.6	13%	38%	59%	–	286
6 , up 4 places since 2025	Newhouse Academy Heywood · Academy sponsor led	44.0	8%	41%	64%	–	180
7 , down 4 places since 2025	St Anne's Church of England Academy Manchester · Academy sponsor led	43.3	5%	33%	50%	–	169
8	Falinge Park High School Rochdale · Academy converter	43.2	8%	46%	63%	–	258
9= , down 2 places since 2025	Dixons Middleton Academy Manchester · Academy converter	41.9	6%	41%	60%	–	263
9=	Matthew Moss High School Rochdale · Academy converter	41.9	11%	35%	54%	–	236
11	Edgar Wood Academy Heywood · Free schools	41.4	9%	32%	57%	–	115
12 , down 1 place since 2025	Kingsway Park High School Rochdale · Academy converter	39.2	6%	28%	46%	–	251
13 , down 5 places since 2025	St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School Rochdale · Academy sponsor led	37.9	8%	23%	41%	–	197

Schools with the same Attainment 8 score share a rank (shown as "=").

Under each rank: the change since the 2025 table, in places gained (+) or lost (−). No figure means the rank is unchanged or the school had no ranked 2025 result.

Independent schools in Rochdale with published GCSE results

Listed as published, not ranked. The DfE tables count only reformed GCSEs, so a school whose pupils sit IGCSE, Pre-U or the IB reports a lower figure than its results merit, or none at all. Compare independent schools on their own published examination results and inspection reports.

School	Attainment 8 (as published)	Grade 5+ English & maths	Pupils
Beech House School Rochdale · Other independent school	44.4	27%	15
Rochdale Islamic Academy Rochdale · Other independent school · 2023 results	49.1	69%	16
Rochdale Islamic Academy Other independent school	52.8	64%	45

How to read this table

Attainment 8 is the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight GCSE subjects: English and maths (double-weighted), three EBacc subjects (sciences, computing, history, geography, languages) and three further approved qualifications. The DfE publishes it for every state school; the England average for 2026 was 46.2.

Grade 7+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching the top grades, 7 to 9, in both; grade 5+ is the "strong pass"; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". The DfE stopped publishing EBacc entry and the EBacc average point score from the 2025/26 results, so that column is empty for 2026.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021, the baseline it is measured from. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so a selective school will usually top an attainment-only table.

Ranks are shared where scores tie. Schools are ranked here on published results alone; our composite score, which also weighs Ofsted inspection, progress and attendance, orders the same schools on the best secondary schools page.

See the best secondary schools in Rochdale on our composite score

Rochdale GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in Rochdale ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in Rochdale with published GCSE results

More about schools in Rochdale

Rochdale GCSE results: common questions