St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton

St Matthew’s Church of England Primary School continues to maintain a good standard of education. Pupils demonstrate high levels of happiness and engagement in their learning environment. The school effectively supports students' achievements, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and fosters a positive atmosphere where kindness and respect are upheld. Notably, the school's strong leadership has facilitated a broad curriculum that gradually builds pupils' knowledge while promoting their personal development through a variety of extracurricular opportunities. However, the school faces challenges with pupil attendance, as some students are persistently absent, impacting their learning progress. Additionally, while teachers are generally effective, there are instances where monitoring pupils' understanding does not occur as comprehensively as needed, resulting in some knowledge gaps. As this is the first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, the school is making necessary adjustments but remains focused on maintaining high educational standards amidst these challenges.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well and are happy in school.
• Teachers have high aspirations for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Leaders have developed an ambitious and broad curriculum.
• A strong personal development programme fosters independence, teamwork, and resilience.
• Effective extracurricular opportunities are available for all pupils.
• Good behaviour management by staff ensures a positive learning environment.
• Leaders promote a love of reading with well-implemented reading support.

Areas for Improvement

• Some subjects lack effective monitoring of pupils' learning.
• Too many pupils are absent or persistently absent from school.

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 St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.8% 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, 0.9% of pupils at St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton 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 St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton had 17.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.4% 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, 13.0% of pupils at St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.8% 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 St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton received £8,129 and spent £8,485 for each of its 405 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £184,000 (£453 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

All schools in Bolton · Bolton local authority: places and applications

What is St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

When was St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton last inspected by Ofsted?

St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton have?

St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton has 424 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton cover?

St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton?

St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton is at Kentford Road, Halliwell, Bolton, Lancashire, BL1 2JL.