St Hugh's Catholic Primary School

St Hugh's Catholic Primary School is a welcoming and inclusive school where pupils feel safe, happy and part of a strong community. Behaviour is positive, relationships between staff and pupils are strong, and pupils meet the school's high expectations for respect, kindness and honesty. The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced, pupils learn well across a range of subjects, and staff know pupils' needs exceptionally well. The school is particularly impressive in supporting pupils with SEND and pupils who are new to the country or have missed periods of formal education, helping them to learn English quickly and fill gaps in their knowledge. Early reading is a notable strength, with effective phonics teaching and timely support for pupils who need it. Personal development is promoted well through lessons, enrichment activities and opportunities to understand British values. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and governors provide appropriate support and challenge. This is a school that has improved considerably since its previous inspection.

Strengths

• Inclusive, welcoming environment where pupils feel safe and part of the school family.
• Pupils are polite, well mannered and meet high expectations for behaviour.
• Strong early years foundations help children learn routines, sharing and cooperation.
• Ambitious and logically sequenced curriculum builds from early years to Year 6.
• Staff know pupils' needs exceptionally well and broaden experiences through trips and enrichment.
• Early identification and effective support for pupils with SEND.
• Impressive support for pupils new to the country or who have missed formal education, including rapid English learning.
• Successful phonics teaching and timely reading support; most older pupils read accurately and fluently.
• Personal development is promoted well, including online safety, British values and enrichment activities.
• Strong relationships and trust with parents and carers.
• Governors have been strengthened and provide appropriate challenge and support.
• Staff workload and well-being are considered when new initiatives are introduced.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils do not make important links between knowledge learned across subjects, which limits the depth of their understanding.
• Expectations for handwriting, spelling and grammar are not consistently high, hindering pupils' writing fluency and accuracy.
• The focus on writing skills within phonics sessions is not consistently built on and secured across the rest of the school.

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 St Hugh's Catholic Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.2% 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 St Hugh's Catholic Primary 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 St Hugh's Catholic Primary School had 20.5 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, 13.9% of pupils at St Hugh's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.6% 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 St Hugh's Catholic Primary School received £10,518 and spent £10,041 for each of its 187 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £238,000 (£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 Liverpool · Liverpool local authority: places and applications

What is St Hugh's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Hugh's Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was St Hugh's Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Hugh's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does St Hugh's Catholic Primary School have?

St Hugh's Catholic Primary School has 187 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Hugh's Catholic Primary School cover?

St Hugh's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Hugh's Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 19% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Hugh's Catholic Primary School?

St Hugh's Catholic Primary School is at Earle Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, L7 6HE.