Lever Edge Primary Academy

Lever Edge Primary Academy demonstrates strong overall performance, achieving good ratings in several key areas, particularly in personal development and early years provision, where it excels. The school fosters a welcoming community that emphasizes respect and care, contributing to a supportive learning environment where pupils feel safe and valued. While the curriculum is ambitious and effective for the majority of subjects, there are some concerns regarding consistent delivery across all areas, particularly in ensuring students master the subject-specific vocabulary necessary for future learning. Since this is the school’s first inspection since becoming an academy, the findings offer valuable insights into its development and current practices.

Strengths

• Pupils feel part of a friendly community.
• High expectations for pupil success and resilience.
• Strong relationships between pupils and staff.
• Outstanding personal development opportunities.
• Effective early years curriculum that prepares children for Year 1.
• Consistent delivery of phonics programme.
• Ambitious curriculum for pupils with SEND.
• High-quality reading resources that engage pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent delivery of curriculum in some subjects.
• Some pupils lack necessary vocabulary for future learning.

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 Lever Edge Primary Academy attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.9% 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 Lever Edge Primary Academy 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 Lever Edge Primary Academy had 21.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.9% 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, 12.6% of pupils at Lever Edge Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 14 pupils.

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 2024–25 Lever Edge Primary Academy received £7,004 and spent £6,746 for each of its 512 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £262,000 (£512 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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• Secondary Schools

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What is Lever Edge Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lever Edge Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

When was Lever Edge Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Lever Edge Primary Academy was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does Lever Edge Primary Academy have?

Lever Edge Primary Academy has 562 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lever Edge Primary Academy cover?

Lever Edge Primary Academy for pupils aged 1 to 11.

What are Lever Edge Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Lever Edge Primary Academy?

Lever Edge Primary Academy is at Lever Edge Lane, Bolton, Lancashire, BL3 3HP.