School Chooser

Bowlee Park Community Primary School

Primary · ages 3-11MixedCouncil900 pupilsNurseryManchesterRochdale
School Chooser Score
96
Well above
similar schools
Likely range 92 to 98
Out of 100. Better than 98% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
OfstedOutstandingLast Ofsted inspection, November 2023
Reached the expected level at 1173%England 63%
Attendance95.7%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families33%A bit more than most schools
PlacesFull900 pupils, 840 places
Pupils per teacher23.2School workforce census

Bowlee Park Community Primary School is a council school in Manchester for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 900 pupils, 60 more than it has places for. About 33 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit more than at most schools. We give it 96 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 98% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2023.

Windermere Road, Langley, Manchester, M24 4LA0161 654 0257bowleepark.rochdale.sch.ukMr Matthew Boyle headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 15 November 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Outstanding overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Outstanding
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Outstanding
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Outstanding
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Outstanding
Early years
Outstanding
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

121 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1173%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level17%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score107.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score108.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 70%70%20172018: 86%86%20182019: 85%85%20192023: 70%70%20232024: 69%69%20242025: 73%73%2025
Since 2017: +3%Steady overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017RochdaleEngland
Pupils tested121124119858683
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths73%69%70%85%86%70%60%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths17%17%19%31%19%8%4%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score107.0105.0105.0109.0108.0106.0104.3105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score108.0106.0106.0109.0108.0105.0103.8104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score110.0108.0109.0112.0110.0110.0105.1105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard79%75%76%94%88%80%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard85%84%83%92%93%83%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)82%77%82%89%91%90%
Reading progressReading progress score+0.9+6.1+3.7+2.8
Maths progressMaths progress score+2.9+5.2+4.5+1.4
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged66%61%65%82%83%65%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged78%79%73%87%91%81%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
66%78%
Gap 12 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
74%71%
Gap 3 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Pupils learning English vs all pupils
77%73%
Gap 4 ptsEngland 4 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
13%17%
Gap 4 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Full845 pupils for 840 places, 2024/25
101% full

The school is full, with 5 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Rochdale council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll900Census January 2026
Places840107% full
Pupils from low-income families33%33% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English22%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support18%160 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan6%51 pupils with a plan
Average class size29.630 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils17%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)33%£424,700 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls449 / 451
White British pupils53%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 29.8 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 30.0 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (73), emotional and mental health (52), Autistic spectrum disorder (37), Moderate learning difficulty (34), Specific learning difficulty (7), Physical disability (4).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll900907907903890866
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals33%33%34%36%36%36%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language22%22%23%24%24%21%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support12%13%12%13%12%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans5%4%4%4%3%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.7%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school8.5%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils3.32024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission2.1%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence4.4%5.0%5.4%6.2%3.8%3.9%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence2.3%2.9%3.4%4.0%1.9%2.4%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence2.1%2.2%2.1%2.2%1.9%1.5%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence8.5%14.0%14.5%19.5%11.2%10.0%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate3.33.51.62.41.0
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions01000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers38.2full-time equivalent, 41 people
Pupils per teacher23.2Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants50.7full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£54,579
Teachers who left in the year5%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher2.12024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£6,733England £7,738. Total £6.0m
Income per pupil£6,744England £7,697. Total £6.0m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,843England £3,480
Money in reserve9%A healthy amount put by: £527k, £588 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out+£10kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£6,733spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m112 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate0 per 1,000 people100% lower than the England average
Typical house price£207,000Rochdale
Nearest bus stop50 mLatrigg Crescent, 15 stops within 500 m

Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.

Nearby schools

The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, MiddletonRoman Catholic660 m462Good 202322Compare
Parkfield Primary SchoolCouncil0.8 miles212Good 202332Compare
Rhodes Green CE Primary SchoolAcademy0.8 miles166Requires improvement 20220Compare
Middleton Parish Church SchoolAcademy0.9 miles432No overall grade 2025Compare
Hollin Primary SchoolCouncil1.2 miles331Good 202448Compare
St Peter's Roman Catholic Primary School, RochdaleRoman Catholic1.5 miles213No overall grade 202565Compare
Boarshaw Community Primary SchoolCouncil1.5 miles446Good 202233Compare
St John Fisher Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyAcademy1.5 miles211Good 2024Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Bowlee Park Community Primary School with the 49 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats98%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
Near the very top of its group. Its score of 96 is 65 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 1 · middle 30 · highest 97100

No school with a similar mix of pupils within 25 km scores clearly higher.

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 96 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 96% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 92 to 98. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%above
+0.14
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 121 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%well above
+0.43
Ofsted grade, 2.8 years old
Progress pupils make20%above
+0.19
DfE progress measure; 121 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%above
+0.05
results and attendance rising year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%above
+0.06
2024/25; 739 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%above
+0.10
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 121 pupils
What parents say0%no data

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Bowlee Park Community Primary School a good school?

Yes, going by the figures. Bowlee Park Community Primary School scores 96 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 98% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 92 to 98, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

What is Bowlee Park Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Bowlee Park Community Primary School outstanding at its last full inspection on 15 November 2023.

How good are Bowlee Park Community Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 73% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 17% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Bowlee Park Community Primary School have?

900 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 840 places, so it is 107% full.

Is Bowlee Park Community Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably. The school was full in 2024/25, with 5 more pupils than places. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.

What is attendance like at Bowlee Park Community Primary School?

Pupils were in school 95.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 9% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Bowlee Park Community Primary School?

The average class had 29.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 17% of classes had more than 30 pupils.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Windermere Road, Langley, Manchester, M24 4LA
Telephone
0161 654 0257
Website
www.bowleepark.rochdale.sch.uk
Headteacher
Mr Matthew Boyle
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Rochdale
Ward
West Middleton
Constituency
Heywood and Middleton North
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 September 2008 (result of amalgamation)
URN
133446 · LAESTAB 3543513 · UKPRN 10073574
Formerly
Langley Primary School, Furrow Community School

Where these figures come from