[1] Bartley was educated at The King's School, Chester, where he was schoolmates with fellow Olympian Tom James,[2] and studied biology at the University of Nottingham.

[3] Bartley was part of the British squad that topped the medal table at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, where he won a bronze medal as part of the lightweight coxless four with Richard Chambers, Paul Mattick and Rob Williams.

He competed at the 2013 World Rowing Championships in Chungju, where he won a bronze medal as part of the lightweight coxless four with Adam Freeman-Pask, Will Fletcher and Jono Clegg.

[5] The following year he competed at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Bosbaan, Amsterdam, where he won a bronze medal as part of the lightweight coxless four with Mark Aldred, Peter Chambers and Richard Chambers.

[6] In 2016 he was selected for the British Olympic team and competed in the men's lightweight coxless four event with Jono Clegg, Mark Aldred and Peter Chambers, finishing in seventh place.