Little Lever School
Church Street, Little Lever, Bolton, BL3 1BT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LEVER ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Dominic Mckeon
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Bolton North East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,085
- URN
- 142296
- Local authority
- Bolton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01204333300
About this school
Little Lever School is a secondary academy in Bolton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,085 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 207 | 206 | 203 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.4 | 45.8 | 46.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.09 -0.11 to +0.28 | +0.13 -0.06 to +0.32 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 49% | 56.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 64% | 65.5% | 67% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 3% | 8.3% | 23.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Little Lever 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 | 44.4 | 39.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.8 | 41.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.2 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,049 |
| 2023/24 | 1,049 |
| 2024/25 | 1,064 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Little Lever School compares
Little Lever School ranked 9th of 19 secondary schools in Bolton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.2 | 10.3% | 30.8% | 1,085 | — |
| Harper Green School | 42.8 | 8.6% | 47.1% | 1,070 | 1.4 miles |
| Kearsley Academy | 51.8 | 9.6% | 42.7% | 768 | 1.6 miles |
| Mount St Joseph RC High School a Voluntary Academy | — | 10.2% | 36.3% | 895 | 1.6 miles |
| St James's Church of England High School | 53.5 | 6.5% | 21.8% | 1,053 | 1.8 miles |
| King's Leadership Academy Bolton | 45.4 | 7.5% | 33.9% | 910 | 2.3 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report19 May 2026
- 8 March 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 30.83%
- English as an additional language
- 7.4%
- Overall absence
- 10.34%
- Persistent absence
- 28.51%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Harper Green School1.4 miles
Secondary · Bolton
-
Kearsley Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Bolton
-
Mount St Joseph RC High School a Voluntary Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Bolton
-
St James's Church of England High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Bolton
-
King's Leadership Academy Bolton2.3 miles
Secondary · Bolton
Other schools in Bolton
Little Lever School ranks 9th of the 19 ranked secondary schools in Bolton.
- Bolton Muslim Girls School Secondary
- Canon Slade School Secondary
- Eden Boys' School, Bolton Secondary
- Essa Academy Secondary
- Harper Green School Secondary
- Kearsley Academy Secondary
- King's Leadership Academy Bolton Secondary
- Ladybridge High School Secondary
- Mount St Joseph RC High School a Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Rivington and Blackrod High School Secondary
- Sharples School Secondary
- Smithills School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Little Lever School teach?
- Little Lever School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bolton.
- Who is the headteacher of Little Lever School?
- The headteacher of Little Lever School is Mr Dominic Mckeon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Little Lever School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Little Lever 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 big is Little Lever School?
- Little Lever School has 1,085 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Little Lever School full?
- Little Lever School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,085 on roll (103%), so it is at or above 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 Little Lever School a faith school?
- No. Little Lever School has no designated religious character.
- Is Little Lever School a selective school?
- No. Little Lever School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Little Lever School?
- Little Lever School is part of LEVER ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Little Lever School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.4 in 2022/23 and 46.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Little Lever School rank locally?
- Little Lever School ranked 9th of 19 secondary schools in Bolton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Little Lever School's absence rate?
- Little Lever School's overall absence rate is 10.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Little Lever School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Little Lever 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 13 August 2026.