St Austin's Catholic Primary School

St Austin's Catholic Primary is a welcoming, inclusive school where pupils feel safe and valued. Inspectors found most areas of school life secure: attendance is a clear priority, behaviour expectations are well understood, early years provision is strong, inclusion systems are effective, and personal development is thoughtfully planned. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils speak positively about their school and the support they receive. However, academic achievement and curriculum/teaching need attention. Over time, pupils—especially disadvantaged pupils—have not achieved well enough in key stage 2 reading, writing and mathematics, and some wider-curriculum knowledge is uneven. Leaders recognise that parts of the curriculum do not precisely identify what pupils should know, and teaching activities are not always well matched to pupils' starting points. Improvement work is underway but at an early stage. The school has a new headteacher since the last inspection and a relatively high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals. Next steps focus on closing gaps in foundational knowledge, sharpening curriculum precision, improving activity selection, and strengthening governors' strategic oversight. Overall, the school has clear leadership and a positive culture, but academic outcomes remain the main area for improvement.

Strengths

• Relentless focus on attendance, with rates now in line with national average and persistent absence reduced.
• Pupils generally meet high behaviour expectations and understand the ready, respectful and safe rules.
• Early years provision is strong, with purposeful starts, effective phonics and high-quality staff interactions.
• Inclusion systems identify needs promptly and support is adapted when needed.
• Staff are well trained to meet changing SEND needs, including communication and independent learning.
• Pupil premium funding is used well for targeted phonics support and reading books.
• Leaders have a clear, accurate view of what is working and what needs to develop.
• Personal development is thoughtful, with strong pastoral support and opportunities for pupil voice and leadership.
• Pupils are kind, thoughtful and aspirational, and understand safety, democracy and tolerance.
• Extra-curricular clubs are accessible, including lunchtime and mindfulness activities.
• Positive relationships with families and effective external partnerships support pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• KS2 outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics have been too low over time, including for disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils have not consistently built on secure phonics and multiplication tables results.
• Some pupils' knowledge across the wider curriculum is uneven.
• Parts of the curriculum do not precisely identify what pupils should know and be able to do.
• Teachers do not always choose activities that are well matched to pupils' starting points.
• Governors' strategic oversight could be sharper in some aspects.
• Leaders must ensure gaps in foundational knowledge are identified and addressed swiftly.
• Curriculum planning needs greater precision in each subject.
• Teaching activity selection needs improvement so pupils develop secure and enduring knowledge.

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 Austin's Catholic Primary School attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.9% 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, 2.8% of pupils at St Austin'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 Austin's Catholic Primary School had 17.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.0% 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 St Austin's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.6% 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 Austin's Catholic Primary School received £7,187 and spent £7,035 for each of its 213 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £14,000 (-£64 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 St Helens · St. Helens local authority: places and applications

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Austin's Catholic Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

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

St Austin's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

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

St Austin's Catholic Primary School has 216 pupils on roll.

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

St Austin's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 46% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Austin's Catholic Primary School?

St Austin's Catholic Primary School is at Heath Street, St Helens, Merseyside, WA9 5NJ.