Nursing in Bolton: Studying, working, and living guide
Find out about nursing in Bolton - where nurses can find jobs, the hospitals they might work in, colleges & universities to study in, plus living information.
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester close to the West Pennine Moors in the Northwest of England. Bolton was once a famous mill town known for its production of textiles.
These days it is recognised as one of the happiest places to live in the North West. Bolton could be an ideal place for nurses to relocate to for study and work.
From cost of living and travel through to culture and nightlife, it is an end-to-end guide for nurses wanting to study or work in Bolton.
Where do nurses work in Bolton?
There are a variety of NHS and private healthcare settings across Bolton where Newly Qualified and Registered Nurses can work:
Royal Bolton hospital (specialising in women's and children's services)
The Beaumont Hospital
Bolton Diabetes centre
Bolton Hospice
The Bolton NHS Foundation Trust provides care throughout Bolton and surrounding locations; it provides care in acute, hospital, and community settings.
There are also private hospitals, health centres, nursing and care homes, and hospices, across the Bolton area. There are many ready to fill vacancies for nurses throughout Bolton for anyone wishing to live and work here.
Where can aspiring nurses study in Bolton?
Across Bolton and surrounding areas there are many educational providers where aspiring Nurses can study. Plenty of options for anyone looking to gain a nursing degree at a university in Bolton.
The University of Bolton offers nursing courses in partnership with the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. The University of Bolton has an urban campus located between Deane Road and Derby Street central to the town. The University is rated in the top ten in the UK for student satisfaction and deliberately maintains a low student to staff ratio. Courses all start in September.
A 20-minute train journey away from Bolton are the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University. Both universities have campuses across Greater Manchester.
Manchester Metropolitan University has campuses in Birley and All Saints and is ranked 4th in the UK for nursing (The Guardian University Guide 2022). Start dates are available for Nursing courses in September.
The University of Manchester also has two campuses, one based on Oxford Road, formerly known as The Victoria University of Manchester campus, and one in Sackville Street, formerly the UMIST campus. Start dates, again, are in September.
Find our nursing university guide here.
The average monthly rental in Bolton is around £900 per month which is slightly cheaper than renting in Manchester itself.
Where do nurses live in Bolton?
Nurses live all over Bolton and surrounding areas, but their exact location is dependant on individual requirements.
Some of the best places to live in Bolton are:
Bolton City Centre
Popular with students due to its excellent central location with endless amenities close by as well as being within proximity of Bolton University.
Lostock
Considered one of the best areas in Bolton due to its fast railway links with the city of Manchester, Blackburn and Wigan as well as having a retail and leisure park brimming with a fine choice of restaurants and shops as well as a bowling alley and cinem
Heaton
Appeals to all types of people and students from Bolton and Manchester universities Heaton has a weekly market as well as three shopping centres plus restaurants and shops.
Chorley
Slightly further afield (10 miles from Bolton city centre) it is nevertheless a great area to live for nurses with children due to having many Ofsted ranked outstanding and good schools in the area. There are many local green spaces to relax in and lots of
What are the living costs for Nurses in Bolton?
Bolton is an affordable town with a marginally lower cost of living compared to other towns and cities across the United Kingdom.
Here is a general guide to some of the different costs of living in Bolton.
The average price for a home in Bolton is currently £210,000 which is markedly below the national average of £293,000 – according to Zoopla.
The average rental price for a property in Bolton is £900 per month. But if you are looking to rent a room in a shared house, the average cost is just over £550 depending on the area of Bolton and Greater Manchester.
Council tax costs vary across the United Kingdom but in Bolton many people reside in a Band B property or similar which means paying £1520 a year, which works out to just under £127 per a month.
Bills like shopping and utilities are priced along the same lines to the rest of the UK.
Entertainment and dining out is a little cheaper than nearby Manchester and other UK cities.
Is travel easy in Bolton?
Travel is simple in Bolton, whatever your requirements.
There are lots of places in Bolton easily accessible by foot or bus.
Bolton has excellent major road/motorway links and is accessible via the M61 (three junctions pass by), the M60 via the A666 and the A6. London to Bolton takes under 4 hours by car whereas Greater Manchester can be accessed in thirty minutes.
Bolton is easy to visit by train and has direct services to other major cities and towns across the region and further afield. Greater Manchester is 20 minutes by train from Bolton.
The nearest airport is Manchester Airport which provides flights all over the UK, as well as to Europe and the US.
Bolton is well connected for all your transport no matter where you are located.
What to do in Bolton: walks, culture, nightlife and eating out
There are lots of places to visit and experience in Bolton, from daytime attractions to evening entertainment.
Depending on your interests and where you want to spend your free time, Bolton has an array of places to visit and attractions to enjoy.
Culture and attractions
One must visit is St Peter's Church, more commonly known as Bolton Parish Church, an iconic Victorian Gothic architecture landmark. The tower has spectacular views across the area and is said to be the tallest in Lancashire. It also offers guided tours.
Turton Tower is a manor house and ancient monument in nearby Chapeltown, North Turton. Considered a treasured piece of history it has evolved over the last 600 years from a stone tower house in the 1400’s to the home of the Tudor Orrell and the Victorian Kay families and is the perfect way to spend a day.
Look out for Jumbles Country Park for parkland and picturesque walks, while Moses Gate Country Park provides leisurely walks around the reservoir and spectacular views. It is also home to a selection of birds, foxes, and deer.
As well as parkland, there are many art galleries and museums in Bolton to visit including Bolton Museum, Art Gallery and Aquarium, Smithills Hall Manor House and Bolton Steam Museum.
Theatre buffs must visit the recently renovated Bolton Octagon Theatre. Once a year the town hosts the Bolton International Film Festival, as well as the Bolton Food and Drink festival.
There are also many entertainment venues across Bolton such as The Albert Halls, a large capacity music and entertainment theatre for all your live music needs and experiences.
Sports fans can keep up with the Bolton Wanderers Football Club who play in the EFL League One, with matches staged at the University of Bolton Stadium.
Nightlife and eating out
Bolton is known for enjoying a good night out and for its quality restaurants that offer something for everyone.
Highlights include:
Casalingo, an award winning Italian restaurant, offering authentic Italian dishes with a Sardinia and Sicilian influence
Definitely Maybe Bar, great food, drinks, bottomless Brunches, and live music
Northern Monkey Bar, known for having the best beer in town from Bolton local Brewery on Chorley
Old Three Crowns, a historic pub in the heart of Bolton town centre and regularly awarded the local best pub honours
In Bolton, there always something to do, whether you're into nature, culture, nights out, or dining.
What are the school options in Bolton?
There are many schools in Bolton for you to send your children to school.
Choosing a school for your children to attend is down to personal preference and the best future interests for your children.
There are 81 of Ofsted Outstanding and Good rated schools in Bolton and surrounding areas.
Bolton has 111 Primary schools, 38 Secondary schools and 9 private independent schools.
Population and demographics in Bolton
Here are some of the stand-out population and demographic facts in Bolton:
The Bolton metropolitan area has a population of 299,000
The inner town population is 139,000
Bolton metropolitan population density is 2,100 people per square kilometre
5.7% of Bolton's population is unemployed – higher than the UK average
In summary: is Bolton a good place to be a nurse?
Bolton is a town with lots of attractions and amenities close by, and there are many sought after areas to live within and around it.
Living costs are a little cheaper than other major cities and towns, and there is lots of work on offer. You can check out vacancies on our website here.
There are three universities close by: University of Bolton, University of Manchester, and Manchester Metropolitan University which all offer nursing courses, meaning Student Nurses have an excellent choice when it comes to where they’d like to study.
Travel to and from Bolton is easy: multiple locations can be reached by foot, as well as car and train.
The average salary for a nurse in Bolton is £31,000 per a year, so your salary as a Registered Nurse goes much further here. Here are a couple of examples:
As a Newly Qualified Nurse on an NHS Band 5 salary, if you rented a house, you would still have just over £1000 left in your pocket each month for everything else. Your disposable income in the Southeast would barely reach half of this figure, for example.
As a Band 6 Nurse, you would easily be able to borrow enough money to buy a joint mortgage for an average-priced flat in Bolton. In fact, in many parts your salary would cover the cost of buying a house
As a nursing student or nurse in Bolton, you will have an excellent quality of life with lots of things to do.
