Devonshire Road Primary School

Devonshire Road Primary School is performing strongly overall. Inspectors found all areas of the school at the strong standard, including achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils achieve highly, behave very well, attend regularly and are well prepared for the next stage of their education. Mathematics is a particular strength, and disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities make impressive progress. The school is larger than average, with 415 pupils, and is located in an area of well above average deprivation. Many pupils speak English as an additional language, and the proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans is above average. Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum and provide effective support for pupils’ language development, inclusion and personal development. Early years provision gives children a strong start, particularly in communication and language, and pupils benefit from a rich range of enrichment opportunities. The main improvement point is writing. Leaders should build on improvements already made so that pupils achieve consistently high standards in writing across all year groups, in line with their achievement in other subjects. No other significant concerns were identified.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve highly and build knowledge securely across the curriculum.
• Mathematics attainment is a particular strength of the school.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND make impressive progress from their starting points.
• Attendance is consistently high and pupils are eager to be part of school life.
• Behaviour is very positive; bullying is extremely rare and pupils trust staff to address concerns.
• The curriculum is ambitious, well designed and delivered consistently well.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language are well supported to develop vocabulary and communication.
• Early years provision gives children a strong start, especially in communication and language.
• Inclusion is central, with timely support and adaptations so all pupils can participate fully.
• Leadership and governance are strong, with accurate self-evaluation and effective staff development.
• Staff wellbeing is prioritised and staff feel valued and supported.
• Personal development and enrichment opportunities are rich and help pupils build confidence and aspiration.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding.

Areas for Improvement

• Writing achievement is not yet consistently high across all year groups, in line with other subjects.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Devonshire Road Primary School attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.7% of pupils at Devonshire Road Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Devonshire Road Primary School had 19.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.7% of pupils at Devonshire Road Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Devonshire Road Primary School received £7,097 and spent £7,265 for each of its 415 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £111,000 (£266 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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What is Devonshire Road Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Devonshire Road Primary School is Strong standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Devonshire Road Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Devonshire Road Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Devonshire Road Primary School have?

Devonshire Road Primary School has 415 pupils on roll.

What age range does Devonshire Road Primary School cover?

Devonshire Road Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Devonshire Road Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Devonshire Road Primary School?

Devonshire Road Primary School is at Devonshire Road, Heaton, Bolton, Lancashire, BL1 4ND.