SCHOOL places created in Bolton to meet a desperate shortage were all in good or outstanding schools, new figures reveal.

Department for Education data shows 150 new secondary places created in Bolton in 2017/18 to 2018/19 were in schools judged good by the government inspection body Ofsted – 134 were in schools deemed outstanding.

That accounted for all new school places – compared to the national average of 88 per cent of new places created in top schools.

All new primary school places created last year were in good or outstanding schools – compared to 90 per cent of existing spots that were in such schools.

All 75 places in 2017/18 to 2018/19 were created in outstanding schools.

Between 2009/10 and 2018/19, 2153 extra places have been created in secondary schools, with 1,733 this and next academic year.

In primary schools, 4983 places have been created in the same time period, with 295 planned for this and the next academic year.

Extra places throughout year groups have been created at SS Simon and Jude CE Primary School in Great Lever, an outstanding school.

To meet growing demand for places in Bolton, a new primary school is planned for the town and UTC Bolton is to take in more pupils this September ­—until now it has only catered for Year 9 to Year 13 pupils.

Some of Bolton's most popular secondary schools have undergone expansion, including Turton School in Bromley Cross and Essa Academy

A department for education spokesman said: “Around nine in 10 new places created last year were in good or outstanding schools, and the proportion of those schools has increased from 68 per cent in 2010 to 86 per cent this year.

“We will continue to support local authorities, trusts and schools themselves to keep raising standards and ensuring children receive the education they deserve.”

But when it comes to pre-existing school places, the area has fewer in good or outstanding schools than the national average – 71 per cent compared to 80 per cent.

In primary schools the number of good and outstanding schools was higher than the national average.

Ofsted inspects all state-funded schools in England, and can rate a school as outstanding, good, requiring improvement or inadequate.

It recently announced it would visit schools after the summer holidays to see “how they are getting back up to speed” after closures due to Covid-19.

The proportion of new places in top-rated schools varied widely across England – while dozens of local authorities saw all their new spots in schools with the two more favourable judgements, several had none.