The UK Social Mobility Awards 2025 Winners’ Case Studies Report has gone live today (25 March). This research explores the best practices and experiences of advancing social mobility among the Social Mobility Awards (SOMOs) 2025 winners.
Bolton School was honoured to receive the SOMO Award for School/College of the Year in 2025, and will now appear in this year's edition of the Report, titled ‘Leading the Way’, alongside other organisations driving meaningful, measurable change across the UK.
The Case Studies Report is an annual research piece conducted by Making the Leap, the organisation behind the SOMOs. The research explores what motivates organisations to act on social mobility, the various activities undertaken, both enabling factors and challenges overcome, and how social mobility success is defined. It also looks into winning organisations’ plans for the future.
The Report aims to inform and inspire future social mobility work by highlighting how winners embed social mobility effectively and make a real and measurable difference.
Bolton School received the UK Social Mobility (SOMO) Award in recognition of its long-standing commitment to social mobility and its work to support young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The School is dedicated to ensuring that talented children are able to access high-quality education regardless of their financial background. Its strategic partnership work and ongoing support for bursary recipients, who form 20% of the senior school pupil community, help those students to achieve their full potential.
The Open Futures Bursary Campaign, which launched in 2025, further raised awareness of and expanded access to the School's bursary scheme. In its first six months, Open Futures raised over half a million pounds thanks to significant philanthropic giving from the wider school community, including many alumni who were bursary recipients themselves and wish to ensure the same opportunities remain available for the next generation.
The School's commitment to social mobility is further reflected in its partnership activities in the local region: identifying bursary candidates, encouraging low-income families to view independent education as an accessible option, and collaborating with schools and universities to raise aspirations for more than 2,000 students beyond its own school community.
The ‘Leading the Way’ Report also explores how Bolton School has addressed the challenges of widening access to students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, how its historic focus on inclusivity provides a strong foundation for social mobility, and the School’s ambitious future plans to further widen access to independent education.
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