Matthew Arnold Primary School

Matthew Arnold Primary School has made significant strides since its last inspection, moving from a grade of 'requires improvement' to 'good' across all areas evaluated. The school is characterized by a welcoming environment where pupils feel valued and motivated to learn. Strong leadership has led to improvements in the quality of education, with a well-structured curriculum that supports pupils' achievements in many subjects, particularly English, mathematics, and art. The school's commitment to fostering positive relationships and a strong culture of safeguarding has also been highlighted as a key strength.

Strengths

• Welcoming and supportive environment for pupils.
• Strong leadership leading to improvements in educational quality.
• High expectations among staff and pupils, resulting in good academic achievements.
• Strong emphasis on reading with effective phonics program.
• Pupils with SEND receive effective support and achieve well.
• Good behaviour and positive relationships among pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Outdoor provision for Reception class does not support physical development effectively.
• Curriculum depth in computing and design & technology needs improvement.

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 Matthew Arnold Primary School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.3% 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, 2.1% of pupils at Matthew Arnold Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Matthew Arnold Primary School had 18.4 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, 16.7% of pupils at Matthew Arnold Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.2% 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 Matthew Arnold Primary School received £9,887 and spent £10,163 for each of its 247 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £144,000 (£581 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).

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What is Matthew Arnold Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Matthew Arnold Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Matthew Arnold Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Matthew Arnold Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Matthew Arnold Primary School have?

Matthew Arnold Primary School has 276 pupils on roll.

What age range does Matthew Arnold Primary School cover?

Matthew Arnold Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Matthew Arnold Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 59% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Matthew Arnold Primary School?

Matthew Arnold Primary School is at Dingle Lane, Liverpool, Merseyside, L8 9UB.