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St Austin's Catholic Primary School

Primary · St Helens · WA9 5NJ

Data updated

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Needs attention

Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)

The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.

Safeguarding: MetCurriculum & teaching: Needs attentionAchievement: Needs attentionAttendance & behaviour: Expected standardPersonal development: Expected standardInclusion: Expected standardLeadership & governance: Expected standardEarly years: Expected standardPost-16: Not applicable

Inspected 14 July 2026 · report published 27 September 2026

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

216 pupils · 82% of 262 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Voluntary aided school
Age range
3–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Catholic
Free school meals
33% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
10.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
10.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
2.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
Nursery
Yes
Website
www.st-austins.st-helens.sch.uk/
URN
104806

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 29 families named it first for 29 Reception places, 1.00 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2019 entry went to 0.271 miles; distance decided places in 1 of the 7 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2014 to 2025. At its report-card inspection on 14 July 2026, under the system Ofsted introduced in November 2025, the Achievement area was judged Needs attention. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 4.6% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

1.00 first-choice applications per place

29 places offered · 29 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

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

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2025 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Every applicant was offered a place for 2025 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2019 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 0.271 miles

measured in a straight line.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

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

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
46%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
0%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
104
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
102
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

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

This school46%
Median of its 12 closest peers64.5%
St. Helens average62.7%
England62%

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

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedResult
Stanton Primary SchoolBurton-on-Trent · 66 miles awayNeeds attention43%
Rochford Primary and Nursery SchoolRochford · 194 miles awayStrong standard77%
Accrington Huncoat Primary SchoolAccrington · 29 miles awayNo current grade56%
Kingsway Primary SchoolNottingham · 67 miles awayGood76%
St Michael's Catholic Primary Academy and NurseryWolverhampton · 64 miles awayNo current grade76%
St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, North ShieldsNorth Shields · 121 miles awayNo current grade84%
Todmorden CofE J, I & N SchoolTodmorden · 33 miles awayGood56%
Livingstone Road Junior SchoolPoole · 190 miles awayNeeds attention52%
Stonehill SchoolLetchworth Garden City · 145 miles awayGood68%
Christ Church C of E Primary SchoolNewark-on-Trent · 84 miles awayGood31%
St Joseph's Catholic Primary SchoolStanford-le-Hope · 189 miles awayRequires improvement61%
St Thomas the Martyr Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary SchoolSkelmersdale · 8 miles awayGood76%

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 81% (St. Helens 85%, England 60%) · Any other White background 6% (St. Helens 4%, England 7%) · Asian Indian 3% (St. Helens 1%, England 4%) · Black African 2% (St. Helens 3%, England 5%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (St. Helens 2%, England 3%) · White Gypsy/Roma 2% (St. Helens 0%, England 0%) · Any other Asian background 1% (St. Helens 1%, England 2%) · other groups together 2%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
4.6%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
13.5%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

4.69 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · St. Helens: 2.88 suspensions and 0.08 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
17.7
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

80% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 20% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

7.69% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained primaries: 0.18% vacant, 0.36% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

38.5% of teachers took sickness absence, 8.8 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £48,048; 15.4% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2025-26)

This school£7,035
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 75% (76%) · premises 6% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 8% (8%) · supplies and services 11% (9%) · educational supplies 6% (4%) · bought-in professional services 4% (3%) · catering 5% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve -£13,501; in-year balance +£32,419

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
5/10around the middle for England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
3/10more deprived than most of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher24.8%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications22.4%18.1%
In managerial or professional work26.4%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways22.5%18.1%
Residents in very good health43.1%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier62.6%62.3%
Social housing8.6%17.1%
Privately rented28.8%20.5%
Detached houses8.9%22.9%
Flats2.9%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms8.3%21.1%
Households with no car or van25.5%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01006906 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£154,000410 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£122,500–£210,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (64)£350,500
Semi-detached (163)£170,000
Terraced (162)£121,500
Flat (21)£125,000

Homes around this school are among the cheapest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Reception cutoff distance (0.44 km, 2019 entry): 101 sales, median £136,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. 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
2an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
1an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
9an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
2an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools