St Joseph's RC Primary School, Halliwell, Bolton

School overview

St Joseph's RC Primary School, Halliwell, Bolton is a primary school serving Bolton, classified by the DfE as a voluntary aided school with a Roman Catholic religious character. It has 229 pupils aged 3 to 11 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated St Joseph's RC Primary School, Halliwell, Bolton 'Good'. 61% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, broadly in line with the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has fallen by 10.0 percentage points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 38% of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 104 in reading and 105 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 13% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made St Joseph's RC Primary School, Halliwell, Bolton their first choice was offered one of its 18 Reception places. Overall pupil absence was 7.3%. There are about 20.6 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 42% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. Given the recent dip in results, it may be worth asking the school what is behind the change and what is being done in response. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.