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St Catharine's CofE Primary School

Primary Ages 4-11 205 pupils Wigan
Ofsted: Good
All schools in Wigan

St Catharine's CofE Primary School is a voluntary aided school in Wigan for pupils aged 4 to 11. It has a Church of England religious character. It has 205 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for St Catharine's CofE Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2023. In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Ofsted inspection: September 2023. KS2 results: 2025.

Type Primary / Voluntary aided school
Age Range 4-11
Religion Church of England
Address Scholefield Lane
Scholes
Wigan
Lancashire
WN1 3LP
Phone 01942733081
Reference Number 106464

General Makeup

Number of pupils 205
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 48.29%
Girls: 51.71%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 53.2%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 16.6%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 29.3
Average size of Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher 28.7
Average size of Key Stage 2 classes taught by one teacher 29.8

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
1 16 14 30
2 9 18 27
3 15 15 30
4 19 10 29
5 13 17 30
6 14 16 30

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 76.1%
White, Other 5.4%
African 4.9%
Mixed, Other 2%
Asian, Other 2%
White & Asian 1%
Chinese 0.5%
Indian 0.5%

St Catharine’s C of E Primary School has been rated as good overall in its latest Ofsted inspection. The school demonstrates strong leadership and management, with an outstanding performance in behaviour and attitudes, and has successfully fostered a supportive and engaged school community. Pupils are happy, safe, and take pride in their achievements while receiving a well-structured education that encourages personal development and a love for learning. However, the school is in the process of refining specific subjects in its curriculum to enhance pupils' vocabulary and understanding, especially in some areas of knowledge delivery.

Overall Ofsted Rating Good
 >  Quality of education Good
  >  Behaviour & Attitude Outstanding
  >  Personal Development Good
  >  Leadership & Management Outstanding
  >  Early Years Provision Good
Last Report Date 20 Jun 2023
Date Report
20 Jun 2023 School inspection:
22 Jan 2020 School inspection
23 Sep 2015 Full inspection:
04 Dec 2013 Monitoring visit
24 Sep 2013 Full inspection:
13 Oct 2010 Full inspection:
04 Feb 2008 Full inspection:
07 Jun 2004 Full inspection

Strengths

  • Pupils exhibit outstanding behaviour and attitudes towards learning.
  • The school has a strong and cohesive culture, fostering pride among pupils.
  • Leaders provide an ambitious curriculum tailored to pupils' needs.
  • Staff are well-trained to address the needs of pupils with SEND.
  • Reading is central to the curriculum, promoting confidence and fluency.

Areas for Improvement

  • Some subjects are still refining essential subject-specific vocabulary.

How many students meet the standards

Reading, Writing & Maths School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Pupils meeting the expected standard 38%
Pupils meeting a higher standard 0%

Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Subject School Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 102
Maths 102

Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 0.6
Writing 0.6
Maths 4.2

How many students meet the standards

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Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

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Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

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Reception admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 18 1
Third Preference 9 0
From another Local Authority 0 0

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 St Catharine's CofE Primary School had 206 pupils for 192 places. That is 14 more pupils than the school has room for.

Pupils and places

Reception intake in the “Area 3: Wigan north and Wigan North West” planning area

Wigan counted 300 Reception pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 283 in 2029–30, down 6%.

201020112012201320142015201620172018201920212022202320242025
Places 192192192192192192192192192192192192192192192
Pupils 165168179176186182192203205204205203206207206
Unfilled 14.1%12.5%6.8%8.3%3.1%5.2%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%

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 Catharine's CofE Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.9% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

20142015201620172018201920212022202320242025
Authorised absence 2.2%1.4%2.5%2.8%2.6%3.1%4.4%5.4%4.3%4.3%4.1%
Unauthorised absence 2.5%2.3%1.7%1.2%1.1%1.0%0.9%1.5%2.0%2.0%1.5%
Severely absent pupils 0.0%1.2%0.6%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%

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 Catharine's CofE Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

2010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 0.01.20.02.30.00.00.00.00.50.50.00.00.06.31.91.5
Permanent exclusions 0000000000000000

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 Catharine's CofE Primary School had 22.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

2011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Pupils per adult 11.212.811.914.69.78.79.89.29.810.19.39.99.38.59.48.4
Teachers who left state teaching 0.0%0.0%38.8%25.0%23.5%19.8%0.0%17.4%10.3%0.0%0.0%9.3%0.0%0.0%0.0%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 36.4%30.0%66.7%44.4%35.7%41.7%45.5%45.5%45.5%–25.0%27.3%60.0%36.4%69.2%–
Sick days per teacher 3.13.27.812.86.23.30.70.42.9–1.40.92.53.03.7–

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, 14.6% of pupils at St Catharine's CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Speech, language and communication needs 10 2
Moderate learning difficulty 10 0
Social, emotional and mental health 4 3
Specific learning difficulty 3 0
Autistic spectrum disorder 2 0
Other difficulty or disability 1 0

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 Catharine's CofE Primary School received £7,782 and spent £8,542 for each of its 205 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £145,000 (£705 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

20192020202120222023202420252026
Revenue reserve £161,000£195,000£268,000£279,000£309,000£300,000£300,000£145,000
per pupil £791£968£1,306£1,360£1,488£1,442£1,472£705
In-year balance -£15,000£33,000£73,000£11,000£31,000-£10,000£0-£156,000
per pupil -£73£165£357£54£147-£46£2-£760

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

Name Distance
CEWE School
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0.04 miles
St Patrick's Catholic Primary School
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Douglas Valley Nursery School
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0.56 miles
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Woodfield Primary School
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1.45 miles
St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Hindley
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1.49 miles
St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Hindley
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1.57 miles
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School
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1.6 miles
St James' Church of England Primary School
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1.62 miles
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1.65 miles
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1.66 miles
Name Distance
Dean Trust Rose Bridge
Holt Street, Ince, Wigan, Greater Manchester, WN1 3HD
0.28 miles
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Fix-It (UK) Ltd
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1.43 miles
Newbridge Learning Community
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1.64 miles
St John Fisher Catholic High School
Baytree Road, Springfield, Wigan, Lancashire, WN6 7RN
1.66 miles
Expanse Learning Wigan School
Tyrer Avenue, Worsley Mesnes, Wigan, Greater Manchester, WN3 5XF
1.68 miles
Hawkley Hall High School
Carr Lane, Hawkley Hall, Wigan, Lancashire, WN3 5NY
1.73 miles
The Parks School
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1.76 miles
Infinite Schools Wigan
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2.07 miles
Hope School
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2.4 miles
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Mornington Road, Hindley, Wigan, Lancashire, WN2 4LG
2.4 miles
Oakfield High School and College
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2.72 miles
Dean Trust Wigan
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2.96 miles
Landgate School, Bryn
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2.98 miles
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St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College
Gathurst Road, Orrell, Wigan, Lancashire, WN5 0LJ
3.36 miles
St Peter's Catholic High School
Howards Lane, Orrell, Wigan, Lancashire, WN5 8NU
3.43 miles
Martha H School
Downall Green Road, Wigan, Greater Manchester, WN4 0LZ
3.56 miles
Shevington High School
Shevington Lane, Shevington, Wigan, Lancashire, WN6 8AB
3.62 miles

All schools in Wigan · Wigan local authority: places and applications

What is St Catharine's CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Catharine's CofE Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was St Catharine's CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Catharine's CofE Primary School was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does St Catharine's CofE Primary School have?

St Catharine's CofE Primary School has 205 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Catharine's CofE Primary School cover?

St Catharine's CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Catharine's CofE Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Catharine's CofE Primary School?

St Catharine's CofE Primary School is at Scholefield Lane, Scholes, Wigan, Lancashire, WN1 3LP.

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