Bolton School’s pupils, staff and supporters are celebrating after the School was named as the ‘School/College of the Year’ at the 2025 UK Social Mobility Awards (SOMOs).
Described as the ‘Oscars for Social Mobility’, the SOMOs recognise organisations and individuals who go above and beyond to level the playing field for people from less-advantaged socio-economic backgrounds across the UK.
Bolton School was shortlisted for the prestigious award earlier in the summer, in recognition of its sustained and systematic work to enable social mobility in the town and beyond.
In recent years, this work has included impactful partnerships with OnSide Youth Zones and The Bursary Foundation to increase equitable access to the School’s bursary scheme by identifying, nurturing, and encouraging potential candidates; the recently-launched Open Futures Bursary Campaign, which aims to expand the School’s bursary provision to support one in three pupils; and its innovative, tailored pastoral care programme for bursary recipients, which ensures each student is fully supported to thrive and succeed.
Head of Foundation, Philip Britton, MBE, accepted the award on the School’s behalf at the SOMOs Fundraising Gala Dinner, held on Thursday 2 October at the London Hilton, Park Lane. Reflecting on the award, he said:
“I was very proud to accept the UK Social Mobility Award for School/College of the Year on behalf of Bolton School last night.
“This prestigious award represents many different things. Most importantly, it acknowledges the life chances the School has given to so many young people in Bolton over the decades, which have made an enormous difference to each of those individuals and their families.
“It also recognises the impact of the philanthropic giving of the very many Alumni, parents, staff, former staff and other friends and supporters of the School, whose generous support for our nationally-leading bursary scheme has allowed others to have the education that made that difference.
Beyond that, I am pleased with the recognition it gives to the work of so many people in School: the School's Development Office, who lead our fundraising; those involved in partnership and outreach activities; the colleagues who ensure our selection process looks for potential rather than prior experiences; those who nurture bursary pupils whilst at School and those who mentor them after they leave us, providing a hinterland of experience that many might otherwise miss out on.
“When speaking with other guests last night, what struck me forcibly was the shared passion to make a real difference in practical, systematic and sustainable ways. This was not about random acts of kindness, but about an intentional commitment to make society what we want it to be, by enabling social mobility across the country. That is exactly what we do here at Bolton School. The success thus far of our Open Futures Bursary Campaign – launched in May to bring the achievement of our ambition to move to funding 1 in 3 pupils back into view – has proven that our School community shares that passion. This award is testament to the School’s long-term commitment to social mobility, and we are honoured to have achieved such national recognition.”
