Bolton School is celebrating once again today after its dedication to social mobility was recognised with a prestigious national award for the second time in two weeks.
At the Independent School Parent magazine Independent School of the Year Awards held on Tuesday evening, Bolton School was named Independent School of the Year for Contribution to Social Mobility 2025. The School was represented at the ceremony by Nic Ford, Head of the Boys’ Division, and Jane Mees, the School’s Outreach and Bursary Support Manager, who proudly accepted the award together on the School’s behalf.
This accolade comes close on the heels of the annual UK Social Mobility (SOMO) Awards, on 2 October, where Bolton School was named School/College of the Year.
The School received the award in recognition of the scale of the impact of its nationally-leading bursary scheme, which supports 1 in 5 Senior School pupils; its dedicated outreach and admissions activities which ensure broad access to families and potential candidates who would most benefit from bursary support; and the dedicated pastoral provision it provides to ensure bursary students thrive throughout their time at school and as they continue into adulthood. The effectiveness of this work is already measurable, and bursary students leave Bolton School not only with strong qualifications but the confidence and competence to realise their ambitions and contribute meaningfully to society.
The School’s extensive wider Partnership work in the Bolton community also supports social mobility for students beyond Bolton School by raising aspirations for young people in primary and secondary education across the region.
The Open Futures Bursary Campaign and its goal of growing the School’s bursary scheme to support 1 in 3 pupils was also a key part of the School’s submission for both awards. This campaign has already raised over half a million pounds in donations and pledges since its launch in May, offering further proof that the School community, including many Alumni who benefitted from a funded place themselves, wish to ensure that the ladder of social mobility remains in good repair for the next generation of pupils at the School.
Head of Foundation Philip Britton said: “We have been delighted to accept these two prestigious awards for our social mobility work in the past fortnight.
“First and foremost, Bolton School’s work in this regard is transforming the life chances of many individual young people, providing them with opportunities and encouraging their aspirations. That is all made possible by the work of many colleagues at the School and I am pleased their efforts are being recognised in this way.
“Independent schools are a force for good locally and nationally, and do provide an engine for social mobility that matters both to the individuals and the society they will help shape in the future. That is very well illustrated by the instincts of so many of our Alumni, who have chosen to contribute philanthropically to the Open Futures Campaign, to provide the same opportunities they have valued for the next generation.”
Mrs Jane Mees and Mr Nic Ford after receiving the trophy at the ISOTY Awards:
Photo credit: Marcus Holdsworth
