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St Catherine's Catholic Primary School, Lowton

Primary · Warrington · WA3 2PQ

Data updated

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Good

Earlier grade, confirmed by a later ungraded inspection

Ofsted's most recent (ungraded) visit confirmed the school remains Good. Ungraded inspections do not award a new grade.

Inspected 31 March 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

212 pupils · 101% of 210 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)

School type
Voluntary aided school
Age range
4–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Free school meals
12.7% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
10.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
9.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
1.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
www.lowtonstcatherines.co.uk/
URN
106507

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 20 families named it first for 25 Reception places, 0.80 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2025 entry went to 1.624 miles; distance decided places in 1 of the 20 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2007 to 2026. An ungraded Ofsted inspection on 31 March 2023 confirmed its earlier grade, Good. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 5.1% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.80 first-choice applications per place

25 places offered · 20 first-choice applications · usually has places

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 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2025 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 1.624 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)

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

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
73%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
3%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
106
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
107
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 school73%
Median of its 12 closest peers69%
Wigan average65.8%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is ahead of 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
Ingrave Johnstone Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolBrentwood · 178 miles awayGood72%
Holley Park AcademyWashington · 107 miles awayGood74%
Whitehill Junior SchoolHitchin · 143 miles awayGood72%
Leigh Academy HorsmondenTonbridge · 205 miles awayGood70%
Hughenden Primary SchoolHigh Wycombe · 146 miles awayGood64%
Leybourne, St Peter and St Paul Church of England Primary AcademyWest Malling · 196 miles awayExpected standard81%
St John's Church of England Primary School, SevenoaksSevenoaks · 191 miles awayGood63%
Oakley Primary AcademyBedford · 124 miles awayGood63%
Over Primary SchoolCambridge · 134 miles awayRequires improvement21%
The Manor Church of England Primary SchoolBristol · 135 miles awayExpected standard72%
St Andrew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, HitchinHitchin · 143 miles awayExpected standard68%
Stalyhill Junior SchoolStalybridge · 22 miles awayGood65%

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

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 79% (Wigan 79%, England 60%) · Any other White background 6% (Wigan 4%, England 7%) · Black African 4% (Wigan 5%, England 5%) · Asian Chinese 3% (Wigan 2%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Wigan 2%, England 3%) · Any other Asian background 2% (Wigan 1%, England 2%) · Asian Pakistani 2% (Wigan 1%, England 5%) · Any other Mixed background 1% (Wigan 2%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Wigan 1%, England 1%) · other groups together 1%

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)
5.1%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
10.6%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

0.00 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Wigan: 2.41 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
25.2
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

91% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 9% moved to another state school

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% 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)

77.8% of teachers took sickness absence, 19.9 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 £55,190; 22.2% 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£6,480
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 7% (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 £163,049; in-year balance +£15,783

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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)
10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher33.6%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications13.7%18.1%
In managerial or professional work41.7%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways11%18.1%
Residents in very good health48.6%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier92.6%62.3%
Social housing0.6%17.1%
Privately rented6.8%20.5%
Detached houses44.5%22.9%
Flats4.6%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms34.1%21.1%
Households with no car or van10.2%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01006347 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£258,000475 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£205,000–£349,500the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (218)£354,000
Semi-detached (183)£230,000
Terraced (45)£159,500
Flat (29)£115,000

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

Inside the Reception cutoff distance (2.61 km, 2025 entry): 1,060 sales, median £233,500. 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

No collision was reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025.

Child pedestrian casualties
0an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
0an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
0an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
0an 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