St Bede Academy

Academy converter·Primary school Bolton·BL3 3LJ
Composite score
33.0
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#12,808
National rank
#1927
In North West
#87
In Bolton
Top 86%
Nationally

Performance (KS2 SATs)

% meeting expected RWM
49%
% achieving higher RWM
1%
Reading average scaled score
103.0
National avg ≈ 105
Maths average scaled score
105.0
National avg ≈ 104
Reading progress
—
Maths progress
—

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Early years provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
98%
56 first choices, 60 places
First choices per place
0.93
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
87
any preference, for 60 places
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.04
00.511.5
1 per place
0.9320220.9320230.8920240.9720250.932026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

We do not have a checked cut-off distance for St Bede Academy yet. Bolton does publish allocation figures and we are working through them council by council — we only show a distance once we have found it in the council’s own document.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
3–11
Pupils on roll
660
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
27.8%
Typical primary: 21.5%
% EAL
29.4%
Typical primary: 9.6%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
12.0%
Typical primary: 14.3%
% with an EHC plan
2.6%
Typical primary: 3.0%

Attendance

Overall absence
6.3%
Typical primary: 5.3%
Persistently absent
17.1%
Typical primary: 13.3%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
20.2
Typical primary: 20.7
Spend per pupil
£6,238
Typical primary: £6,960

“Typical” = the median primary school in England. What this means

Nearby primary schools

Location

About St Bede Academy

St Bede Academy is a primary school in Bolton, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Church of England religious character. Around 660 pupils aged 3 to 11 attend the school. The school holds a 'Good' judgement from Ofsted. 49% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, below the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has fallen by 13.0 percentage points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 103 in reading and 105 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 1% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). 98% of the families who made St Bede Academy their first choice were offered a Reception place for September 2026, even though the school made at least as many offers as it had first choices - the rest withdrew, moved or fell outside a priority group. Overall pupil absence was 6.3%. There are about 20.2 pupils per teacher. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. 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.

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