SchoolFacts.uk

St Thomas CofE Primary School

Primary · Bolton · BL5 3HP

Data updated

⇄ Compare with another school
Expected standard

Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)

The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.

Safeguarding: MetCurriculum & teaching: Expected standardAchievement: Expected standardAttendance & behaviour: Expected standardPersonal development: Strong standardInclusion: Expected standardLeadership & governance: Expected standardEarly years: Expected standardPost-16: Not applicable

Inspected 19 May 2026 · report published 25 June 2026

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

239 pupils · 114% of 210 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)

School type
Voluntary aided school
Age range
3–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England
Free school meals
9.9% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
6.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
10.2% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
2.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
Nursery
Yes
Website
http://www.st-thomas.bolton.sch.uk
URN
105234

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 28 families named it first for 30 Reception places, 0.93 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 0.973 miles; distance decided places in 3 of the 5 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2022 to 2026. At its report-card inspection on 19 May 2026, under the system Ofsted introduced in November 2025, the Achievement area was judged Expected standard. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 4% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.93 first-choice applications per place

30 places offered · 28 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 0.973 miles for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 0.973 miles

measured in a straight line.

Premium shows the exact distance behind every year back to 2024.

See what a pass includes →

Would you have got in? Check your postcode

One free check a month, no account needed: your postcode against this school's cutoff history. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools you would be inside, and the address check across every school at once.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

32 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
78%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
9%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
107
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
106
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025

This school78%
Median of its 12 closest peers70%
Bolton average65.5%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedResult
St Michael's Church of England Primary School, BamfordHeywood · 12 miles awayOutstanding76%
Newick Church of England Primary SchoolLewes · 208 miles awayGood67%
Crowmarsh Gifford Church of England SchoolWallingford · 147 miles awayGood73%
St Saviour CofE Primary School, RingleyManchester · 6 miles awayGood67%
King's Gate Primary SchoolSalisbury · 168 miles awayGood80%
Barugh Green Primary SchoolBarnsley · 40 miles awayGood67%
Fir Bank Primary SchoolOldham · 16 miles awayGood73%
Reedings Junior SchoolSawbridgeworth · 163 miles awayGood77%
Barrow Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolBury St Edmunds · 157 miles awayGood67%
Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolChelmsford · 174 miles awayExpected standard54%
St Therese of Lisieux Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Catholic AcademyStockton-on-Tees · 82 miles awayStrong standard74%
Lyminge Church of England Primary SchoolFolkestone · 226 miles awayGood50%

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 80% (Bolton 46%, England 60%) · Not recorded 3% (Bolton 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Asian 3% (Bolton 2%, England 2%) · Asian Chinese 2% (Bolton 1%, England 1%) · Any other Black background 2% (Bolton 1%, England 1%) · Black African 2% (Bolton 8%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Bolton 1%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 1% (Bolton 10%, England 4%) · Any other White background 1% (Bolton 3%, England 7%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Bolton 3%, England 3%) · other groups together 1%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
4%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
9.8%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

1.69 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Bolton: 2.36 suspensions and 0.07 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium

Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
22.3
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

69% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 10% moved to another state school · 21% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained primaries: 0.18% vacant, 0.36% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

36.4% of teachers took sickness absence, 7 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £52,134; 18.2% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%

Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium

Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2025-26)

This school£6,375
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 73% (76%) · premises 6% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 6% (8%) · supplies and services 15% (9%) · educational supplies 12% (4%) · bought-in professional services 3% (3%) · catering 4% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £73,585; in-year balance +£47,924

Spending and reserves, last three years Premium

Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
6/10around the middle for England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher26.9%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications20.1%18.1%
In managerial or professional work33.7%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways16.4%18.1%
Residents in very good health44.2%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier79.1%62.3%
Social housing10.2%17.1%
Privately rented10.6%20.5%
Detached houses17.6%22.9%
Flats18%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms13.2%21.1%
Households with no car or van16.7%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01004891 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£250,000293 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£195,000–£320,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (109)£344,000
Semi-detached (100)£241,000
Terraced (49)£216,500
Flat (35)£115,000

Homes around this school are cheaper than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Reception cutoff distance (1.57 km, 2026 entry): 587 sales, median £235,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
0an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
3an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
17an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
1an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools