North Chadderton School is a mixed gender

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

, located in

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. The ...

, in the

Metropolitan Borough of Oldham The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is named after its largest town, Oldham. The borough had a population of in , making it the sixth-largest district by population in Greater Manch ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England.

Admissions

The range of academic years correspond to ages from 11 to 18. The school is exceeding the designed capacity. It is situated on the B6195, not far from the A627(M) close to Chadderton Fold and opposite St Matthew'
Church
near Chadderton Hall Park.

History

North Chadderton County Secondary School was a

secondary modern school A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...

, which was split into girls' and boys' sections. South Chadderton County Secondary School, another secondary modern, was on ''Butterworth Lane'' in

Grammar school

Chadderton Grammar School on Broadway, a mixed school, was officially opened in October 1930 by

David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford and 10th Earl of Balcarres, (10 October 1871 – 8 March 1940), styled Lord Balcarres or Lord Balniel between 1880 and 1913, was a British Conservative politician and art connoisseur. Back ...

. It was for 300 pupils from

Failsworth Failsworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester and south-west of Oldham. The M60 motorway, M60 ring-road motorway skirts it to the east. The population at the United Kingdom C ...

Royton Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Ol ...

, Crompton and Lees. Extensions to the school were opened in September 1935. By 1950 it had 700 boys and girls, 800 by 1954 and 900 by 1958. In 1957 it was decided to split the school into two single sex schools. In 1959, the boys left for the new grammar school, and the girls stayed at the old site. Parents protested about the move. Chadderton Grammar School for Boys was on Chadderton Hall Road, and concentrated more on science and maths. It had around 600 boys.

Comprehensive

In 1974, the school's administration moved from the Lancashire Education Committee to Oldham MBC, and secondary schools were re-organised in September 1975 and the school became a comprehensive mixed school. The lower school on ''Broadway'' of the North Chadderton secondary modern school was merged with the school. North Chadderton underwent a transformation in 2012-13 by constructing a new school on the same site. This brought both lower school and upper school sites together.

Academy

North Chadderton School converted to academy status on 1 September 2014 and is now independent of local authority control. However the school continues to coordinate with Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council for admissions.

Curriculum

Pupils follow the UK

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or othe ...

Key Stage 4 Key Stage 4 (KS4) is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other examinations, in maintained schools in England normally known as Year 10 and Year 11, when pupils are aged between 14 and 16 by August 31 ...

(GCSE) examinations are taken during Years 9, 10 and 11.

Sixth form

North Chadderton has its own sixth form 6th form with the majority of pupils former pupils at the compulsory level (years 7-11). Current attendance is around 150 pupils within both years.

Notable alumni

* William Ash, actor *

Len Carney Leonard Francis Carney (30 May 1915 – March 1996) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward. Career Born in Liverpool, Carney played amateur football for Liverpool University, Northern Nomads, Marine and Colleg ...

was Headmaster *

Matthew Dunster Matthew Dunster is an English theatre director, playwright, and actor.Dominic Cavendish for The Telegraph. 17 Mar 201/ref> He was the Associate Director of the Young Vic from 2005 to 2009 and the Associate Director of Shakespeare's Globe from 2 ...

, actor, theatre director and playwright *

Karen Elson Karen Jill Elson (born 15 January 1979) is an English model, singer, and songwriter. Early life and education Elson was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and attended North Chadderton School as a child. She has a fraternal twin sister, film ...

, supermodel and singer-songwriter * Keith Etherington, District Judge *

Kelvin Fletcher Kelvin Warren Fletcher (born 17 January 1984) is an English actor, model, racing driver, presenter and farmer. He played Andy Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', a role he played from 1996 until 2016. In 2019, Fletcher won the sevent ...

, actor in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'' *

Mike Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born 24 December 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 24th U.S. national security advisor for the first 22 days of the first Trump administration. He resigned in light of reports tha ...

, footballer who made over 650 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

Keeley Forsyth Keeley Forsyth is an English actress and musician. She has released the albums ''Debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded waste, garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, l ...

, actress and musician. *

Matthew Gilks Matthew Gilks (born 4 June 1982) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Blackpool, Burnley, Norwich City, Rochdale, Rangers, Wigan Athletic, Shrewsbury Town, Scunthorpe United, Lincoln City, Fleetwood Tow ...

, footballer who played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Iestyn Harris Iestyn Rhys Harris (born 25 June 1976) is a former dual-code international professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and coach in rugby league in the 2000s and 2010s. He played representative rugb ...

, rugby league player and coach who now works as a TV pundit *

Jo Hartley Jo Hartley (born ) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' Dead Man's Shoes'' (2004), ''This Is England'' (2006), ''The Young Victoria'' (2009), '' Torvill & Dean'' (2018), '' Slaughterhouse Rulez'' (2018), '' Eddie th ...

, actress *

Jeff Hordley Jeff Hordley (born 7 March 1970) is an English actor, best known for portraying the role of Cain Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. For his portrayal of Cain, he has been nominated for the British Soap Award for Best Actor at three c ...

, then known as Jeff Percy, actor in Emmerdale as

Cain Dingle Cain Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Jeff Hordley. Cain made his first appearance on 30 March 2000, and in 2006, he was written out of the series when Hordley left the soap; however, the opt ...

Donohue, Simon
Cain ready and able for wedded bliss
''ManchesterEveningNews.co.uk'', 4 February 2003. * Danny Philliskirk, former

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

footballer *

Mark Robins Mark Gordon Robins (born 22 December 1969) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Stoke City. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier League with Manchester United, Norw ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

winning footballer. Has also managed several

clubs *

John Stalker John Stalker (14 April 1939 – 15 February 2019) was a British police officer who served as Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police. He headed the Stalker Inquiry that investigated the shooting of suspected members of the Provisi ...

, Senior Police officer, author, television personality *

Nicola Stephenson Nicola Stephenson (born 5 July 1971) is an English actress. She played the roles of Margaret Clemence in '' Brookside'', Julie Fitzjohn in '' Holby City'', Sarah Williams in '' The Chase'', Allie Westbrook in '' Waterloo Road'', and Tess Harr ...

, actress who has appeared in TV soaps such as

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Bro ...

and

* Stuart Wolfenden, actor

North Chadderton County Secondary School

Woolly Wolstenholme Barclay James Harvest are an English progressive rock band, which following a split in 1998 now exists as two successor bands. They were founded in Oldham, in September 1966 by bassist/vocalist Les Holroyd (born 1948), guitarist/vocalist John ...

, member of Barclay James Harvest rock band

Chadderton Grammar School for Boys

* Peter Ballard,

Archdeacon of Lancaster The Archdeacon of Lancaster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Blackburn. Originally created in the Diocese of Manchester it became part of the new Diocese of Blackburn in 1926. As Archdeacon, they are responsible for the d ...

from 2006–10 *

Les Chapman Leslie Chapman (born 27 September 1948), commonly known as Les and sometimes as Chappy, is an English former football player and manager. As a player, he made 747 appearances in the Football League in a career that spanned 22 seasons, playing fo ...

, former footballer and manager *

Mike Freer Michael Whitney Freer (born 29 May 1960) is a British Conservative Party politician and former banker who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Services from September 2022 to July 2024. He was first elected as ...

, Conservative MP since 2010 for

Finchley and Golders Green Finchley and Golders Green is a constituency created in 1997. It is represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Sarah Sackman of the Labour Party. Boundaries The constituency covers Finchley, Golders Green, Childs Hill, Te ...

References

External links

History of the site

EduBase
{{authority control Secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Educational institutions established in 1959 1959 establishments in England Academies in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Chadderton