SchoolFacts.uk

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Preston

Primary · Preston · PR2 2SA

⇄ Compare with another school
Good

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: GoodBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: GoodLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 26 September 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

209 pupils · 100% of 210 capacity

School type
Academy converter
Age range
4–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Free school meals
27.3% of pupils
English as additional language
34.6% of pupils
SEN support
17.6% of pupils
EHC plan
2.9% of pupils
Website
https://sacredheart.mecmat.org/
URN
151084

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.95 first-choice applications per place

20 places offered · 19 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

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.

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
47%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
7%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
101
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
102
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 school47%
Median of its 12 closest peers66%
Lancashire average61%
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
St George and St Martin's Catholic AcademyStoke-on-Trent · 56 miles awayNo current grade67%
St Benedict's Catholic Primary SchoolWarrington · 26 miles awayGood66%
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, BanburyBanbury · 131 miles awayGood50%
St Patrick's Catholic Primary SchoolCoventry · 106 miles awayExpected standard57%
West Green Primary SchoolCrawley · 212 miles awayGood47%
Saffron Green Primary SchoolBorehamwood · 179 miles awayGood36%
Angel Road Junior SchoolNorwich · 184 miles awayGood68%
Magdalen Gates Primary SchoolNorwich · 184 miles awayGood62%
Blowers Green Primary SchoolDudley · 91 miles awayOutstanding87%
Alban Wood Primary School and NurseryWatford · 173 miles awayGood74%
Stanground St Johns CofE Primary SchoolPeterborough · 133 miles awayGood67%
St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, KentonNewcastle-upon-Tyne · 96 miles awayNo current grade66%

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)
4.1%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
9.3%
England 18.1%

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

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
20.1
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

91% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 9% 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£6,371
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)
3/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
2/10among the most deprived fifth 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 higher34.6%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications15%18.1%
In managerial or professional work28.4%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways18.4%18.1%
Residents in very good health41.3%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier44.9%62.3%
Social housing7.9%17.1%
Privately rented47.1%20.5%
Detached houses3.2%22.9%
Flats15.1%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms9.9%21.1%
Households with no car or van34.5%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01025232 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,270 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
£135,000469 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£115,000–£169,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (23)£300,000
Semi-detached (109)£205,000
Terraced (283)£127,000
Flat (54)£110,000

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

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
2an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
5an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
56an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
20an 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