Hardy Mill Primary School
Community school in Bolton, BL2 4EF, taking ages 3 to 11, 316 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 5.79 miles Bolton published for latest published year, as the checker measures.
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Will an address get in?
In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 5.79 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Primary applications close 15 January 2027; offers on 16 April 2027.
How this compares: every Bolton school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 5.79 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.
Hardy Mill Primary School: 5.79 miles Turton School: 2.2 miles, published by Bolton
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Hardy Mill Primary School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.
Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.
Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary. The labels on the map are postcode districts whose centre falls inside both circles; each opens the district's guide.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
Source: Bolton, published admission distances
Where Hardy Mill Primary School and Turton School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Turton School admitted from 2.2 miles in the latest published year, published by Bolton. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside both published distances, cheapest first by the median of real sales around each district's centre. The cheapest is BL1 at £125,000; the dearest shown, BL7, £385,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From Hardy Mill Primary School | From Turton School | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BL1 | Bolton | 2.6 mi | 2.1 mi | £125,000 87 sales |
| BL2 | Bolton | 1.0 mi | 1.9 mi | £182,000 84 sales |
| BL7 | Blackburn with Darwen | 2.7 mi | 1.3 mi | £385,000 47 sales |
Sold prices from HM Land Registry, via each district's area guide. Distances measured from each district's centre to each school's point on the Department for Education register.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop Turton School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Bolton, 63 of 290 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (21.7%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.
Other schools nearby with a published distance
The closest schools to Hardy Mill Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castle Hill Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.26 mi | 1.3 mi |
| Turton School Both in reach | Secondary | 2.2 mi | 1.5 mi |
| Sharples School Both in reach | Secondary | 1.1 mi | 1.7 mi |
| Blackshaw Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.84 mi | 1.8 mi |
| Christ Church CofE Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 1.6 mi | 1.9 mi |
| Eagley Infant School Both in reach | Primary | 1.76 mi | 1.9 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 316 pupils in 356 places (89% full) |
| Local authority | Bolton |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Ungraded inspection, January 2025: standards maintained |
| Meeting the expected standard | 69.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25) |
| Year | Meeting the expected standard |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 69.0% |
| 2023/24 | 53.0% |
| 2022/23 | 70.0% |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Hardy Mill Primary School
| Girls and boys | 56.0% girls, 44.0% boys |
| English as an additional language | 2.5% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 7.3% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
What it costs to live within reach of Hardy Mill Primary School
Cheapest district inside the 5.79 miles: BL1, median £125,000. Dearest: BL7, £385,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| BL1 | Bolton | 2.6 mi | £125,000 87 sales |
| M26 | Bury | 3.3 mi | £135,000 105 sales |
| BL3 | Bolton | 3.2 mi | £140,000 42 sales |
| BL4 | Bolton | 3.8 mi | £140,000 75 sales |
| BL9 | Bury | 4.0 mi | £145,000 78 sales |
| BL78 | Bolton | 3.0 mi | £148,000 79 sales |
| M38 | Salford | 5.0 mi | £160,000 72 sales |
| BL2 | Bolton | 1.0 mi | £182,000 84 sales |
| BL8 | Bury | 2.3 mi | £195,000 118 sales |
| BL11 | Bolton | 2.6 mi | £205,000 10 sales |
| BL0 | Bury | 4.3 mi | £212,500 105 sales |
| BL7 | Blackburn with Darwen | 2.7 mi | £385,000 47 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 5.79 miles the school admitted from in the latest published year, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.
How this compares across England: what a tight gate costs, school by school.
Source: HM Land Registry sold prices, via each district's area guide
Getting to Hardy Mill Primary School by bus
Best-served stop: Harwood Meadow, 0.1 mi away, with 2.2 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 04:48, last 23:03.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patterdale Road | 113 yd | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 507, 926, 924 |
| Patterdale Road | 131 yd | 2.1 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 507, 926, 924 |
| Bramhall Avenue | 0.1 mi | 2.1 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 507, 926, 924 |
These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing Hardy Mill Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around BL2: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at BL2 4EF, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for Hardy Mill Primary School?
Hardy Mill Primary School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in the latest published year lived 5.79 miles away, per Bolton.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Hardy Mill Primary School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 5.79 miles was enough in the latest published year. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near Hardy Mill Primary School guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Bolton school's distance
All Bolton schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Hardy Mill Primary School's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Bolton. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.