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St Mary's Catholic Junior Academy

Primary · Newton-le-Willows · WA12 9QQ

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Requires improvement

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: Requires improvementBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: GoodLeadership & management: Requires improvementSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 22 November 2022

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

219 pupils · 91% of 240 capacity

School type
Academy sponsor led
Age range
7–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Free school meals
21% of pupils
English as additional language
2.6% of pupils
SEN support
21.4% of pupils
EHC plan
4.4% of pupils
Website
https://www.federationofstmarys.co.uk/
URN
150302

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 3

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

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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)

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

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
72%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
14%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
106
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
105
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 school72%
Median of its 12 closest peers57%
St. Helens average62.7%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is ahead of 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
Bovington AcademyWareham · 191 miles awayGood71%
Meriden Church of England Primary SchoolCoventry · 81 miles awayGood57%
Ancaster CofE Primary SchoolGrantham · 93 miles awayGood62%
St Matthew's Church of England Primary SchoolStroud · 119 miles awayGood74%
Hartlebury CofE Primary SchoolKidderminster · 79 miles awayNo current grade57%
Noremarsh Junior SchoolSwindon · 136 miles awayGood54%
Priors Wood Primary SchoolWare · 158 miles awayNeeds attention48%
Washingwell Community Primary SchoolNewcastle-upon-Tyne · 110 miles awayGood57%
All Saints Babbacombe CofE Primary SchoolTorquay · 209 miles awayGood53%
Honeybourne Primary AcademyEvesham · 100 miles awayGood63%
Cleobury Mortimer Primary SchoolKidderminster · 74 miles awayGood35%
Bridport Primary SchoolBridport · 188 miles awayGood50%

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)
4.4%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
11.8%
England 18.1%

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

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
18
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

74% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 9% moved to another state school · 17% left the state-funded sector

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£5,812
Typical primary school£6,959

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, academy 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.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
6/10around the middle for England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for 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 higher35.6%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications14.6%18.1%
In managerial or professional work37.1%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways14.8%18.1%
Residents in very good health48.1%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier73.3%62.3%
Social housing5.1%17.1%
Privately rented21.6%20.5%
Detached houses20.3%22.9%
Flats7.9%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms12.8%21.1%
Households with no car or van15.6%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01006864 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,619 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
£185,000393 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£142,000–£240,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (60)£329,000
Semi-detached (150)£200,000
Terraced (161)£150,000
Flat (22)£103,500

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

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
10an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
30an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
5an 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