Bowness Primary School
Church Street, Little Lever, Bolton, BL3 1BT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PRESTOLEE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Sophie Wright
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Prestolee Community Primary School
- Constituency
- Bolton North East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 156
- Pupils on roll
- 129
- URN
- 142030
- Local authority
- Bolton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01204333140
About this school
Bowness Primary School is a primary academy in Bolton. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 129 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Bowness Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 6 July 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 18 | 22 | 14 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 56% | 68% | 86% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Expected standard in reading | 72% | 91% | 100% |
| Expected standard in maths | 61% | 77% | 100% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 61% | 86% | 100% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 107.0 | 110.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 105.0 | 109.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +3.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.00 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Bowness Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Bolton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 56% | 63.5% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 68% | 63.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 86% | 63.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 123 |
| 2023/24 | 132 |
| 2024/25 | 124 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bowness Primary School compares
Bowness Primary School ranked 3rd of 89 primary schools in Bolton for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 95% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 86% | 8.6% | 42% | 129 | — |
| St Teresa's RC Primary School a Voluntary Academy | — | 5.1% | 24.6% | 126 | 0.2 miles |
| St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Little Lever | 42% | 4.2% | 18% | 196 | 0.3 miles |
| Mytham Primary School | 56% | 4.3% | 21.3% | 323 | 0.6 miles |
| Masefield Primary School | 84% | 4.8% | 23.8% | 254 | 0.7 miles |
| All Saints CofE Primary School | 66% | 4.9% | 29.3% | 285 | 0.8 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 42.02%
- English as an additional language
- 9.7%
- Overall absence
- 8.64%
- Persistent absence
- 27.36%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Teresa's RC Primary School a Voluntary Academy0.2 miles
Primary · Bolton
-
St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Little Lever0.3 miles
Primary · Bolton
-
Mytham Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Bolton
-
Masefield Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Bolton
-
All Saints CofE Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Bolton
Other schools in Bolton
Bowness Primary School ranks 4th of the 88 ranked primary schools in Bolton.
- All Saints CofE Primary School Primary
- Beacon Primary School Primary
- Beaumont Primary School Primary
- Bishop Bridgeman CofE Primary School Primary
- Blackrod Anglican/Methodist Primary School Primary
- Blackrod Primary School Primary
- Blackshaw Primary School Primary
- Bolton Parish Church, Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brandwood Primary School Primary
- Brownlow Fold Primary School Primary
- Castle Hill Primary School Primary
- Cherry Tree Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Bowness Primary School teach?
- Bowness Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Bolton.
- Who is the headteacher of Bowness Primary School?
- The headteacher of Bowness Primary School is Miss Sophie Wright, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Bowness Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bowness Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Bowness Primary School?
- Bowness Primary School has 129 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Bowness Primary School full?
- Bowness Primary School has capacity for 156 pupils and 129 on roll (83%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Bowness Primary School a faith school?
- No. Bowness Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Bowness Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Bowness Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Is Bowness Primary School part of an academy trust?
- Bowness Primary School is part of PRESTOLEE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Bowness Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 56% in 2022/23 and 86% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bowness Primary School compare with other schools in Bolton?
- Bowness Primary School ranked 3rd of 89 primary schools in Bolton for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 95% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bowness Primary School's absence rate?
- Bowness Primary School's overall absence rate is 8.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bowness Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bowness Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 2 July 2026.