SchoolFacts.uk

St Columba's Catholic Primary School

Primary · Liverpool · L36 8BL

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Good

SchoolFacts estimate: Ofsted awarded no overall grade at this inspection

We show the lowest of the four areas Ofsted did judge, listed below. Why some schools have no overall grade →

Quality of education: GoodBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 12 November 2024

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

224 pupils · 90% of 249 capacity

School type
Voluntary aided school
Age range
3–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Free school meals
53.5% of pupils
English as additional language
11.2% of pupils
SEN support
14.3% of pupils
EHC plan
3.6% of pupils
Nursery
Yes
Website
stcolumbasknowsley.co.uk
URN
104480

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

1.03 first-choice applications per place

30 places offered · 31 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE. A ratio above 1.00 means more families named this school first choice than there were places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 0.459 miles

measured in a straight line.

Cutoff distance by entry year

20
21
26

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Cutoff distances as published by the local authority. Siblings and other priority groups are offered places first; cutoffs move year to year.

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

27 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
52%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
7%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
103
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
100
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Schools with a similar intake

Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025

This school52%
Median of its 12 closest peers57%
Knowsley average60.6%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.

The twelve below are matched on intake alone, from every state school in England, so most are not local. They are the evidence behind the comparison above, not a shortlist. For schools you could realistically apply to, see nearby schools.

SchoolOfstedResult
Willowpark Primary AcademyOldham · 32 miles awayGood59%
St Wilfrid's CofE Junior and Infant SchoolManchester · 28 miles awayGood72%
Hill View AcademyHuddersfield · 47 miles awayGood63%
Reevy Hill Primary SchoolBradford · 49 miles awayGood50%
The Drive Community Primary SchoolGateshead · 117 miles awayGood55%
Harwich Community Primary School and NurseryHarwich · 201 miles awayGood31%
Fieldhead Primary AcademyBatley · 53 miles awayGood70%
Ryecroft Primary AcademyBradford · 52 miles awayGood (2019)50%
Wroughton Junior AcademyGreat Yarmouth · 198 miles awayRequires improvement56%
St Malachy's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary AcademyHalifax · 45 miles awayRequires improvement58%
Castle View Primary SchoolRuncorn · 8 miles awayGood83%
Springfield AcademyNottingham · 74 miles awayExpected standard52%

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one: same phase and admissions type, and as near as the data allows on size, free school meals, English as an additional language, SEN and the child poverty of the surrounding area (IDACI 2025). Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable: sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and plain geography all matter and are not in the calculation. Results: DfE performance tables, 2024/2025. How the matching works.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
9.2%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
26.6%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
21.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

100% of teachers stayed at the school the following year

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Spending per pupil

This school£8,276
Typical primary school£6,959

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, council-maintained school finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Inspection history since 2015

Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
1/10among the most deprived tenth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
1/10among the most deprived tenth of England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher14.9%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications37.2%18.1%
In managerial or professional work12.9%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways40%18.1%
Residents in very good health45.9%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier34.7%62.3%
Social housing53.1%17.1%
Privately rented11.9%20.5%
Detached houses6.5%22.9%
Flats1.8%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms5.5%21.1%
Households with no car or van48.6%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01006444 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,036 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£170,000349 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£140,000–£225,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (92)£255,500
Semi-detached (120)£175,000
Terraced (127)£140,000
Flat (10)£115,000

Homes around this school are cheaper than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Reception cutoff distance (0.74 km, 2026 entry): 153 sales, median £150,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
4an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
4an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
28an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
4an urban school averages 6.1

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other urban schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Nearby schools