St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School
Bolton, BL1 6LA · Bolton local authority
Bolton’s School Grade B+ better than 70% of towns in England
What stands out about St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School
- Its own letter, B: Key Stage 2 results better than 57% of England’s primary schools
- 8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (fewer than England’s 25%)
- Ofsted: Good, October 2022 (shown, not graded)
- 91% of families who put it first got a place for September 2026 (29 of 32)
- Homes in its postcode sector (BL1 6) sold for a median £200,000; Bolton’s is £195,000
Results
DfE · Key Stage 2Reading, writing and maths 65%
Met the expected standard, DfE’s 3-year average 2023–2025 · higher than 57% of England’s 14,979 graded primaries · Bolton avg 65%
Each subject, 2025
Met the expected standard; the mark is England’s schools · average scaled score: reading 106, maths 104 (100 = the expected standard)
England’s figures are of its graded mainstream state schools, each school counted once; grammar schools are included, which is why the right-hand tail is long. Small cohorts are suppressed.
How hard is it to get a place at St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School?
91% of the families who put it first got a place for September 2026.
Years when some first choices missed out: 2019 (6), 2020 (1), 2021 (7), 2022 (3), 2025 (5), 2026 (3). The council runs the coordinated admissions; each school’s rules (siblings, distance, faith) decide who gets in. DfE doesn’t publish the furthest distance offered, so check the council’s admissions booklet for that. Forward As One Church of England Multi Academy Trust sets the admissions rules. Apply through Bolton council’s coordinated admissions.
Outline = places offered · green = families who put it first · striped = more first choices than places · the 10 most in demand
91% got their first choice
Bolton and Bolton, side by side
2023–2025All 95 graded primaries in Bolton. Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually score lower, so a school above the crowd for its free school meals is doing better than its intake predicts. Bolton’s schools are coloured by their letter.
Show as a table
| School | Letter | Free school meals | KS2 expected standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Olive School, Bolton | A+ | 18% | 93% |
| Beaumont Primary School | A+ | 11% | 87% |
| The Oaks Primary School | A+ | 7% | 86% |
| The Valley Community Primary School | A+ | 16% | 85% |
| Masefield Primary School | A+ | 20% | 84% |
| St Andrew's CofE Primary School, Over Hulton | A | 11% | 82% |
| St William of York Roman Catholic Primary School | A | 33% | 81% |
| Blackrod Primary School | A | 8% | 80% |
| St Gregory's RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy | A | 36% | 80% |
| Lostock Primary School | A | 7% | 80% |
| The Ferns Primary Academy | A | 32% | 79% |
| St Teresa's RC Primary School a Voluntary Academy | A | 25% | 79% |
| Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School | A | 19% | 78% |
| Prestolee Primary School | A | 14% | 78% |
| Oxford Grove Primary School | A | 60% | 77% |
| Spindle Point Primary School | A | 11% | 77% |
| Eatock Primary School | A | 19% | 77% |
| The Gates Primary School | A | 19% | 77% |
| Heathfield Primary School | A | 26% | 76% |
| St Thomas CofE Primary School | A | 10% | 76% |
| Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School | A | 9% | 76% |
| Markland Hill Primary School | A− | 6% | 75% |
| St Paul's CofE Primary School, Astley Bridge | A− | 27% | 75% |
| Sunning Hill Primary School | A− | 21% | 73% |
| The Olive Tree Primary School Bolton | A− | 21% | 73% |
| St Peter and St Paul RC Primary School a Voluntary Academy | A− | 30% | 73% |
| Gaskell Community Primary School | A− | 36% | 72% |
| Lever Edge Primary Academy | A− | 30% | 72% |
| Eagley Junior School | A− | 16% | 72% |
| Walmsley CofE Primary School | A− | 3% | 72% |
| St James CofE Primary School, Daisy Hill | B+ | 10% | 70% |
| St Columba's RC Primary School | B+ | 33% | 70% |
| St Maxentius CofE Primary School | B+ | 14% | 70% |
| Highfield Primary School | B+ | 25% | 69% |
| Bowness Primary School | B+ | 44% | 69% |
| Devonshire Road Primary School | B+ | 28% | 68% |
| Sharples Primary School | B+ | 20% | 68% |
| St Mary's CofE Primary School, Deane | B+ | 41% | 68% |
| St Mary's RC Primary School | B+ | 15% | 68% |
| Castle Hill Primary School | B | 50% | 67% |
| Ladybridge Community Primary School | B | 18% | 67% |
| St Stephen and All Martyrs' CofE School, Lever Bridge | B | 33% | 67% |
| St Joseph's RC Primary School, Halliwell, Bolton | B | 37% | 67% |
| Harwood Meadows Primary School | B | 19% | 67% |
| St Bartholomew's CofE Primary School | B | 16% | 66% |
| St George's CofE Primary School | B | 12% | 66% |
| Bolton Parish Church, Church of England Primary School | B | 27% | 66% |
| Kearsley West Primary School | B | 33% | 65% |
| St Peter's CofE Primary School | B | 29% | 65% |
| St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School | B | 8% | 65% |
| Church Road Primary School | B− | 28% | 64% |
| Haslam Park Primary School | B− | 54% | 64% |
| Hardy Mill Primary School | B− | 7% | 64% |
| Blackrod Anglican/Methodist Primary School | B− | 17% | 64% |
| St Bernard's RC Primary School, Bolton | B− | 14% | 64% |
| Horwich Parish CofE Primary School | B− | 20% | 64% |
| High Lawn Primary School | B− | 22% | 63% |
| Moorgate Primary School | B− | 39% | 63% |
| St Saviour CofE Primary School, Ringley | B− | 4% | 63% |
| St Thomas of Canterbury RC School | B− | 17% | 62% |
| St Stephen's CofE Primary School | B− | 27% | 62% |
| Red Lane Primary School | B− | 59% | 61% |
| St John Church of England Primary School, Farnworth | B− | 37% | 61% |
| Mytham Primary School | C+ | 18% | 60% |
| Bishop Bridgeman CofE Primary School | C+ | 28% | 60% |
| Chorley New Road Primary Academy | C+ | 26% | 60% |
| St John the Evangelist RC Primary School, Bromley Cross, Bolton | C+ | 11% | 59% |
| Brandwood Primary School | C+ | 43% | 58% |
| Blackshaw Primary School | C+ | 20% | 58% |
| St Bede Academy | C+ | 30% | 58% |
| Ss Simon & Jude CofE Primary School, Bolton | C+ | 39% | 58% |
| St Catherine's CofE Primary School | C+ | 19% | 58% |
| St Michael's CofE Primary School, Great Lever | C | 29% | 57% |
| St Brendan's RC Primary School, Harwood, Bolton | C | 14% | 57% |
| SS Osmund and Andrew's R.C. Primary School | C | 33% | 57% |
| St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth | C | 43% | 57% |
| Clarendon Primary School | C | 36% | 56% |
| Pikes Lane Primary School | C | 35% | 56% |
| All Saints CofE Primary School | C | 30% | 56% |
| Brownlow Fold Primary School | C | 37% | 55% |
| Essa Primary Academy | C | 44% | 54% |
| Claypool Primary School | C− | 12% | 53% |
| St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Little Lever | C− | 20% | 52% |
| Woodland Primary Academy | C− | 41% | 52% |
| Holy Infant and St Anthony RC Primary School | C− | 38% | 51% |
| Queensbridge Primary School | C− | 39% | 51% |
| Bolton St Catherine's Academy | C− | 53% | 51% |
| Tonge Moor Primary Academy | C− | 55% | 51% |
| St Thomas C of E Primary School, Halliwell | C− | 30% | 49% |
| St Ethelbert's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | C− | 33% | 48% |
| Leverhulme Community Primary School | D | 56% | 46% |
| Beacon Primary School | D | 65% | 45% |
| Cherry Tree Primary School | D | 48% | 44% |
| St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton | D | 48% | 44% |
| Gilnow Primary School | D | 28% | 40% |
Who goes here
DfE school census, January 2025215 pupils. SEN support is extra help in school for a special educational need; an EHC plan is the council’s legal plan for pupils who need more.
Girls and boys
St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School’s letter
Its own results against England’s schools, not the town’s School Grade.
How school letters are worked out
Each school’s measure is compared with every graded school in England of the same phase: for primaries, the share of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (DfE’s three-year average); for secondaries, Attainment 8 and the share with grade 5 or above in English and maths, each turned into a z-score against England’s schools and averaged. The letter comes from the share of those schools it beats, in the same bands as every grade on the site. The same method gives U.S. schools their letters, against their own state.
Graded: England’s open mainstream state schools with published results (grammar schools included, which select by test). Not graded: special schools, alternative provision, nurseries, 16–19 colleges, UTCs and studio schools, Welsh schools. Ofsted plays no part.
Ofsted inspections
Shown, not graded: Ofsted is never part of a letter or the School Grade.
Ungraded inspection: School remains Good, October 2022.
Living near St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School
For families thinking of moving: what homes cost around the school, and the other schools close by.
Home prices in BL1 6, the school’s postcode sector
Bolton property prices →Median sale price each year, 2010 to 2025
By type, the 36 months to August 2026
Homes in BL1 6 sell for about the same as Bolton’s typical price. HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales. Catchments aren’t published, so the postcode sector stands in for “around the school”.
Schools within 1.6 miles
21 state schoolsLocation
Directions ↗Bolton, BL1 6LA
St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School: common questions
Is St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School a good school?
By its published results, above average: its Key Stage 2 results are better than 57% of England’s primary schools (its letter is B), with 65% of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% for England’s schools. Ofsted: Good, October 2022.
How hard is it to get into St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School?
For September 2026, 32 families put St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School first and 29 of them were offered a place; 30 places were offered in all.
What is St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School’s Ofsted rating?
Its latest inspection outcome is Good (October 2022).
How much do houses cost near St Peter's Smithills Dean Church of England Primary School?
Homes in its postcode sector, BL1 6, sold for a median £200,000 over the 36 months to August 2026 (333 sales).
Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Also: DfE Key Stage 4 performance, schools data (2023/24 and 2024/25 final, 2025/26 provisional) and Key Stage 2 performance tables 2024/25 by subject; DfE school census, January 2025; DfE school-level applications and offers, September 2019 to 2026 entry; HM Land Registry Price Paid by postcode sector, 2010 to August 2026.
A school’s letter is our own summary of its published results against England’s schools of the same phase; Bolton’s School Grade is a separate grade, built from the results of the schools in and around the town against other towns. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.