Bamford Academy

Bamford Academy is performing well, continuing to maintain its status as a good school. Pupils express high levels of satisfaction, noting the kindness of teachers and a safe learning environment that fosters positive relationships. The curriculum is ambitious, and leaders have made effective adjustments to support pupils impacted by prior COVID-19 lockdowns. Despite some challenges, such as gaps in a few subjects' curriculum design, the school effectively promotes the importance of respect and personal development among its pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy making friends and feel safe at school.
• Teachers are kind and know the pupils well.
• The school has a well-planned curriculum that promotes good progress.
• Early years' teaching effectively develops speech and understanding of numbers.
• Reading is prioritized, with a variety of high-quality literature available.
• Strong support for pupils with SEND to ensure they succeed.
• Pupils have many leadership and extracurricular opportunities.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum content is not clearly defined in some subjects.
• Teachers do not consistently check for understanding in a few 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 Bamford Academy attended 93.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.1% 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, 1.4% of pupils at Bamford 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 Bamford Academy had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.9% 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, 17.6% of pupils at Bamford Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 2024–25 Bamford Academy received £4,770 and spent £6,691 for each of its 360 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £406,000 (£1,129 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Altus Education Partnership, income was £5,944 and spending £7,010 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Manchester · Rochdale local authority: places and applications

Bamford Academy is part of Altus Education Partnership, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• Caldershaw Primary School Rochdale
• Rochdale Sixth Form College Rochdale
• Kingsway Park High School Rochdale
• Edgar Wood Academy Heywood

What is Bamford Academy's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Bamford Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Bamford Academy was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does Bamford Academy have?

Bamford Academy has 324 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bamford Academy cover?

Bamford Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Bamford Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bamford Academy?

Bamford Academy is at Belgium Street, Rochdale, Manchester, Lancashire, OL11 5PS.