Knowsley Village School

Knowsley Village School was inspected on 4 and 5 March 2025 and was judged good in all key areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This is a notable improvement from its previous requires improvement grade. Pupils are described as happy, welcoming and well cared for, with high ambitions, calm and positive behaviour, strong relationships, and a wide range of opportunities that support their personal development. The curriculum is ambitious and logically ordered, early years provision is well designed, reading is taught successfully, and safeguarding is effective. The main areas for improvement relate to assessment and support in some subjects. The school does not check pupils' learning as effectively in some subjects as it does in English and mathematics, so misconceptions are sometimes missed and feedback does not always help pupils improve. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified early, but learning tasks are not consistently adapted well enough, and teachers do not always have the expertise to scaffold learning effectively. Attendance is improving but some pupils still do not attend often enough to benefit fully from the school's positive environment. The school has a nurturing culture and strong community relationships. Parents are positive, staff feel supported and workload is being reduced, and governors are knowledgeable and able to support and challenge the school appropriately. Overall, this is a good school with a clear understanding of what it needs to do next to secure stronger learning for all pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, welcoming and feel well cared for, with well-being placed first.
• Behaviour and attitudes are strong, with calm, positive lessons and respectful relationships.
• The curriculum is ambitious and logically sequenced so pupils build on prior learning.
• Early years provision is well designed and prepares children well for the next stage.
• Reading and phonics are taught effectively, and pupils become confident readers.
• Pupils with SEND are identified early and support is put in place to access the ambitious curriculum.
• Personal development is strong, including British values, respect for diversity and extra-curricular opportunities.
• Staff feel supported, workload is being reduced, and leaders have a nurturing culture.
• Governors are knowledgeable and provide appropriate support and challenge.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment systems to check pupils' learning are not as effective in some subjects as in English and mathematics.
• Feedback does not always help pupils know how to improve, and misconceptions are sometimes not addressed.
• Some pupils with SEND do not receive well-adapted tasks or effective scaffolding in lessons.
• Some pupils do not attend school often enough, although attendance is improving.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Knowsley Village School attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.5% of pupils at Knowsley Village School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Knowsley Village School had 20.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.3% of pupils at Knowsley Village School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Knowsley Village School received £7,702 and spent £8,259 for each of its 174 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £221,000 (-£1,272 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Prescot · Knowsley local authority: places and applications

What is Knowsley Village School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Knowsley Village School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Knowsley Village School last inspected by Ofsted?

Knowsley Village School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Knowsley Village School have?

Knowsley Village School has 175 pupils on roll.

What age range does Knowsley Village School cover?

Knowsley Village School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Knowsley Village School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 43% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Knowsley Village School?

Knowsley Village School is at Sugar Lane, Knowsley, Knowsley Village Primary School, Prescot, Merseyside, L34 0ER.