St Stephen's CofE Primary School

St Stephen's CofE Primary School demonstrates a welcoming and supportive environment where pupils feel valued. The school has made notable strides in safeguarding and building positive relationships between staff and students. Although pupils show strong performance in reading and mathematics, particularly at key stage 2, there is a pressing need to enhance the depth of knowledge across the wider curriculum, as many pupils struggle to recall prior learning. Despite high attendance rates and effective emotional and pastoral support, leadership must address variability in teaching practices and ensure consistent expectations for behavior throughout the school.

Strengths

• Exciting curriculum designed to engage children in early years.
• Effective phonics teaching helping children quickly learn to read and write.
• Strong relationships between staff and children, fostering secure learning environments.
• Improvements in attendance rates, now above the national average.
• Pupils develop good communication skills through high-quality talk.
• Thoughtful approaches to supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent teaching practices leading to gaps in knowledge retention across subjects.
• Leaders do not promptly identify or address weaknesses in the school's performance.
• Some staff do not maintain high expectations for behavior during unstructured time.
• Leaders need to improve oversight of child-on-child violence incidents.

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 Stephen's CofE Primary School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.0% 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, 1.4% of pupils at St Stephen's CofE 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 Stephen's CofE Primary School had 23.3 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, 10.4% of pupils at St Stephen's CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.1% 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 Stephen's CofE Primary School received £6,397 and spent £6,625 for each of its 233 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £9,000 (£37 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 Manchester (Wigan) · Wigan local authority: places and applications

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Stephen's CofE Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in May 2026.

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

St Stephen's CofE Primary School was last inspected in May 2026.

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

St Stephen's CofE Primary School has 240 pupils on roll.

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

St Stephen's CofE Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Stephen's CofE Primary School?

St Stephen's CofE Primary School is at Manchester Road, Astley, Tyldesley, Manchester, M29 7BT.