St Joseph's RC High School
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Voluntary aided school in Bolton, BL6 6HW, taking ages 11 to 16, 1,047 on roll.
Will an address get in?
In the varies round, the furthest-away child offered a place at St Joseph's RC High School lived 2.7 miles away, according to Bolton. Put a postcode in and it is measured against that distance.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close on 31 October 2026, with offers on 1 March 2027. The address on the deadline is the one the council uses. How it works.
The circle is 2.7 miles, the distance the school admitted from in varies. Real admission areas are not circular: this is the distance, not a boundary.
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | Roman Catholic |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 1,047 pupils in 1,050 places (100% full) |
| Local authority | Bolton |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Attainment 8 | 44.8 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | -0.14 |
| 2022/23 | -0.11 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to St Joseph's RC High School
| Girls and boys | 47.2% girls, 52.8% boys |
| English as an additional language | 18.4% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 21.5% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where St Joseph's RC High School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 3.0% |
| Sixth-form college | 24.1% |
| Further education college | 59.1% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.4% |
| Employment | 3.9% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 4.4% |
DfE destination measures, 2022/23. Broad categories only: the DfE does not publish which named schools or colleges pupils moved to.
What it costs to live within reach of St Joseph's RC High School
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 2.7 miles the school admitted from in varies, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. The cheapest is BL6 at £144,000; the dearest, BL5, £225,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| BL6 | Bolton | 0.6 mi | £144,000 94 sales |
| BL5 | Bolton | 2.7 mi | £225,000 94 sales |
Sold prices from HM Land Registry, via each district's area guide. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing St Joseph's RC High School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around BL6: ages, selection, and how full each one is →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report measures the distance from every nearby school to one address, alongside sold prices, flood risk, crime and the other checks on the same house.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for St Joseph's RC High School?
St Joseph's RC High School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in varies lived 2.7 miles away, per Bolton.
How close do I need to live to get a place at St Joseph's RC High School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 2.7 miles was enough in varies, and at 100% full the school has little slack. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near St Joseph's RC High School guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings and faith criteria ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Bolton school's distance
All Bolton schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Admission distance published by Bolton. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.