Bolton Parish Church, Church of England Primary School

About Bolton Parish Church, Church of England Primary School

Bolton Parish Church of England Primary School sits within Bolton local authority, a borough with 16 primary schools rated Outstanding out of 97 total. The school itself is one of the larger primaries in the area, with 247 pupils against a capacity of 210, and it operates as a state-funded Church of England school for mixed-gender pupils aged 3 to 11. Among its local peers, the top-ranked schools are The Olive School, Bolton, The Oaks Primary School, and Beaumont Primary School, all of which score higher on the local ranking metric. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is Moorgate Primary School, just 1.1 kilometres away. Headteacher Lisa Belfield leads a school that has seen a clear improvement trajectory: its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in September 2016 awarded an overall effectiveness rating of Good, a significant step up from the Requires Improvement rating it received in September 2014. An ungraded inspection in December 2021 confirmed the school remains Good, with leadership and management, early years provision, and overall effectiveness all rated Good.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted report noted Good quality of education, though specific Key Stage 2 SATs results are not provided in the data. The local authority average for Key Stage 2 attainment sits at 66, which gives a useful benchmark for parents comparing schools in Bolton. The school’s Progress 8 score is not available, so it is not possible to say how pupils’ progress compares with the national average. However, the improvement from Requires Improvement to Good across inspections suggests a strengthening of teaching and curriculum. The school serves a community with 28.9 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals, above the national average, which can indicate higher levels of disadvantage. The early years provision was rated Good in the 2016 inspection, and the school offers nursery provision for children from age 3, making it a viable option for families seeking a single-site primary journey from nursery through to Year 6.

The school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 academic year, with 44 applications for 30 places and 29 first-preference offers made from 34 first-preference applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.47. Facilities include a library, outdoor playground, ICT suite, gymnasium, playing fields, and a chapel. Sports on offer include swimming, tennis, athletics, cricket, dance, rounders, and gymnastics, while clubs range from choir and coding to gardening and book club. The school has a broad range of SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. This makes it a practical choice for families whose children require additional support in a mainstream setting. For parents who value a Church of England ethos and a school that has demonstrably improved its Ofsted rating, Bolton Parish Church Primary is a solid, well-subscribed local option.

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