School Chooser

Harwood Park Primary School

Primary · ages 3-11MixedCouncil291 pupilsNurseryHeywoodRochdale
School Chooser Score
24
Below
similar schools
Likely range 14 to 42
Out of 100. Better than 30% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, February 2024
Reached the expected level at 1149%England 63%
Attendance94.0%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families46%Far more than most schools
Places39 spare291 pupils, 330 places
Pupils per teacher19.6School workforce census

Harwood Park Primary School is a council school in Heywood for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 291 pupils and room for 330. About 46 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 24 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 30% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.

Hardfield Street, Heywood, OL10 1DG01706 396660harwoodpark.rochdale.sch.ukMrs Amanda Davies headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 14 February 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall.

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

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

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

Reached the expected level at 1149%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level2%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score103.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score101.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 43%43%20172018: 56%56%20182019: 48%48%20192023: 59%59%20232024: 52%52%20242025: 49%49%2025
Since 2017: +6%Declining overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017RochdaleEngland
Pupils tested594856443651
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths49%52%59%48%56%43%60%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths2%2%5%2%8%2%4%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score103.0101.0104.099.0103.0101.0104.3105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score101.0101.0103.0102.0101.0102.0103.8104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score102.0102.0104.0101.0104.0102.0105.1105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard69%58%71%52%72%55%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard59%63%73%66%58%57%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)68%65%63%70%72%63%
Reading progressReading progress score+0.8-1.1-1.1-0.5
Maths progressMaths progress score+0.5+0.5-2.5+0.1
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged38%39%46%38%43%43%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged63%70%84%61%77%44%

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. 1 of the 4 gaps 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
38%63%
Gap 25 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
54%41%
Gap 13 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Pupils learning English vs all pupils
56%49%
Gap 7 ptsEngland 4 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
0%2%
Gap 2 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.

Plenty of spare places304 pupils for 420 places, 2024/25
72% full

116 places were empty (28% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 9% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.

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 roll291Census January 2026
Places33088% full
Pupils from low-income families45%46% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English31%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support26%75 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan5%15 pupils with a plan
Average class size25.311 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)47%£203,050 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls148 / 143
White British pupils45%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 26.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 25.9 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (38), emotional and mental health (24), Autistic spectrum disorder (13), Specific learning difficulty (6), Moderate learning difficulty (4), Physical disability (3).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll291317340367355362
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals45%48%53%56%50%50%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language31%27%22%19%18%19%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support21%21%20%17%20%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%4%3%3%2%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance94.0%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school16.3%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils5.72024/25, 1 permanent exclusion
Missed without permission3.3%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence6.0%7.7%8.5%8.1%5.5%4.8%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence2.7%3.2%3.6%3.6%2.6%1.7%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence3.3%4.5%4.9%4.5%2.9%3.1%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence16.3%22.5%28.1%26.7%15.2%12.8%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate5.76.58.74.50.0
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions11100

Staff and money

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

Teachers14.5full-time equivalent, 15 people
Pupils per teacher19.6Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants18.8full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£49,373
Teachers who left in the year33%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher7.32024/25

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£8,427England £7,738. Total £2.5m
Income per pupil£8,299England £7,697. Total £2.5m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,308England £3,480
Money in reserve4%Not much put by: £90k, £299 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£39kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£8,427spent 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 stop190 mBenfield Street, 21 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 Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School Rochdale, a Voluntary AcademyAcademy700 m373Good 202043Compare
St Luke's Church of England Primary SchoolChurch of England810 m446No overall grade 202584Compare
Hopwood Community Primary SchoolCouncil950 m421Outstanding 202493Compare
All Souls Church of England Primary SchoolChurch of England0.7 miles234Outstanding 202395Compare
Woodland Community Primary SchoolCouncil0.7 miles564Not inspected14Compare
St Margaret's Church of England Primary SchoolAcademy0.9 milesGood 2024Compare
St Michael's Church of England Primary School, BamfordChurch of England1.0 miles228Outstanding 202494Compare
Our Lady & St Paul's RC Primary School, A Voluntary AcademyAcademy1.4 miles202Good 202315Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Harwood Park Primary School with the 44 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 44 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats30%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the lower half of its group. Its score of 24 is 13 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 2 · middle 37 · highest 99100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 44 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Harwood Park Primary School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary SchoolAcademy3.6 miles304Good 202353Compare
Radcliffe Hall Church of England Methodist Primary SchoolAcademy4.2 miles295Good 202330Compare
Radcliffe Primary SchoolAcademy5.5 miles228Good 202258Compare
St Margaret's CofE Junior Infant and Nursery SchoolChurch of England5.7 miles333Good 202345Compare
St James CofE Primary School, FarnworthAcademy8.6 miles357No overall grade 202433Compare
St Edmund's RC Primary SchoolRoman Catholic9.1 miles339Report card 202569Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 24 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 24% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 14 to 42. 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%below
-0.18
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 59 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 2.6 years old
Progress pupils make20%in line
+0.03
DfE progress measure; 59 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%below
-0.07
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%below
-0.05
2024/25; 306 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%below
-0.06
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 59 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 Harwood Park Primary School a good school?

The figures are weak. Harwood Park Primary School scores 24 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 30% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 14 to 42, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Harwood Park Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Harwood Park Primary School good at its last full inspection on 14 February 2024.

How good are Harwood Park Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 49% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 2% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Harwood Park Primary School have?

291 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 330 places, so it is 88% full.

Is Harwood Park Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 116 places were empty in 2024/25 (28% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Harwood Park Primary School?

Pupils were in school 94.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 16% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Harwood Park Primary School?

The average class had 25.3 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class 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
Hardfield Street, Heywood, OL10 1DG
Telephone
01706 396660
Website
www.harwoodpark.rochdale.sch.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Amanda Davies
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
North Heywood
Constituency
Heywood and Middleton North
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
105796 · LAESTAB 3542061 · UKPRN 10070056

Where these figures come from