Linacre Primary School

Linacre Primary School remains in a fragile position and requires special measures following its January 2026 full inspection. This first monitoring inspection found that leaders are taking some appropriate action and have made effective use of external support, but improvement is slow because of continuing staffing turbulence, frequent staff absences and weak leadership and governance capacity. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils are cared for in an increasingly welcoming and calmer environment. Pupils' day-to-day experience is improving but remains variable. There are signs of progress in the wider personal development offer, pastoral support, phonics and reading support, and recent work to improve attendance. However, significant concerns remain. Many pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged or have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are not achieving well, have gaps in basic reading, writing and mathematics, and are not well prepared for the next stage of their education. The school serves a highly deprived community with well-above-average levels of free school meals and SEND support. Behaviour, attendance and punctuality remain serious issues, expectations of pupils are too low, and teaching does not consistently meet pupils' needs. The early years and inclusion work also require urgent improvement, and leaders and governors do not yet have the capacity to secure necessary improvement independently.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils are made safer and feel safe.
• Pupils enjoy the trips, activities and visits provided through the revised personal development programme.
• Pupils are developing understanding of how to stay safe and healthy, including online safety.
• Pastoral support is helping pupils gain confidence in interacting with others.
• Leaders make decisions in pupils' best interests and have begun addressing long-standing issues.
• Leaders make effective use of a wide range of external support.
• Curriculum expectations are clearer and phonics teaching is mostly secure.
• Some pupils receive regular, well-trained additional support for reading accuracy and fluency.
• The school environment is welcoming and increasingly calmer.
• Many staff understand some of the challenges pupils face, and most teachers are improving their ability to identify pupils' differing needs.
• Pupils have begun to take on leadership roles and are learning to express opinions respectfully.
• Leaders' recent work to improve attendance is beginning to improve the situation.

Areas for Improvement

• The school requires special measures and remains in a fragile position.
• A significant proportion of pupils leave Year 6 without achieving the expected standards.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND achieve well below national expectations.
• Pupils have significant gaps in basic knowledge, especially in writing and mathematics.
• Curriculum design and teaching remain weak, with insufficient leader oversight and poor sequencing in some subjects.
• Teachers often lack the skills to identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge before introducing new content.
• Many pupils are expected to write at length before mastering spelling, handwriting and punctuation.
• Attendance and punctuality are poor, with persistent absence well above national averages, especially for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Staff expectations of pupils' behaviour remain too low, and poor conduct disrupts learning.
• Behaviour management is inconsistent, and leaders do not deal with bullying consistently well.
• Some pupils use crude, derogatory or racist language repeatedly.
• Pupils' understanding of fundamental British values and protected characteristics is superficial.
• Early years support for children's personal, social and emotional development is not good enough.
• Inclusion work is improving too slowly, and some pupils are often out of class without full curricular entitlement.
• Leaders do not use or check the impact of pupil premium funding well enough.
• Governors lack the skills and knowledge to provide effective support and challenge.
• Staffing turbulence and frequent staff absences continue to affect pupils' experience.
• Leaders rely heavily on external support and do not yet demonstrate the capacity to improve independently.

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 Linacre Primary School attended 89.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 42.4% 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, 3.0% of pupils at Linacre 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 Linacre Primary School had 15.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 36.8% 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, 25.4% of pupils at Linacre Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.7% 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 Linacre Primary School received £10,320 and spent £11,646 for each of its 130 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £135,000 (-£1,045 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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All schools in Bootle · Sefton local authority: places and applications

What is Linacre Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Linacre Primary School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Linacre Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Linacre Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Linacre Primary School have?

Linacre Primary School has 134 pupils on roll.

What age range does Linacre Primary School cover?

Linacre Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 17% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Linacre Primary School?

Linacre Primary School is at Thornton Road, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 5ED.