St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy

St Wilfrid’s Catholic Primary School maintains a good standard of education, emphasizing high aspirations and a supportive environment for all pupils. The school fosters a culture of happiness and safety, with pupils enjoying their learning experiences and participating in various clubs. The leadership is firmly committed to providing a strong academic foundation alongside personal development, allowing pupils to thrive both personally and socially. However, some areas need attention, particularly in ensuring all pupils retain prior knowledge across subjects and improving phonics support for those struggling with reading fluency.

Strengths

• Leaders have high aspirations for all pupils.
• Pupils feel happy and safe at school.
• The school promotes a love of reading effectively.
• Pupils enjoy a wide variety of extracurricular clubs.
• Behaviour is consistently well managed, fostering respect among pupils.
• Leaders prioritize personal development and responsibility.
• Staff receive strong support from leaders, positively impacting workload and well-being.
• The multi-academy company and governors offer effective oversight.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils do not blend phonics well, impacting their reading fluency.
• A few subject leaders struggle to evaluate the curriculum's impact, affecting learning outcomes.

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 Wilfrid's Catholic Academy attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.4% 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, 0.3% of pupils at St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy 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 Wilfrid's Catholic Academy had 23.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.8% 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, 20.4% of pupils at St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.7% 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 2024–25 St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy received £6,700 and spent £6,556 for each of its 339 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £158,000 (£465 per pupil).

Across all 56 schools of St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,565 and spending £7,594 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Stoke-On-Trent · Stoke-on-Trent local authority: places and applications

St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy is part of St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 64 schools. The nearest others:

• St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Joseph's Catholic Academy, Goldenhill Stoke-On-Trent
• St Marys Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Peter's Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Wulstan's Catholic Primary School Newcastle
• St George and St Martin's Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St John the Evangelist Catholic Academy Kidsgrove
• Our Lady and St Benedict Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St John Fisher Catholic College Newcastle Under Lyme
• St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School Stoke-On-Trent

What is St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2023.

When was St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy was last inspected in June 2023.

How many pupils does St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy have?

St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy has 343 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy cover?

St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy?

St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy is at Queen's Avenue, Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST6 6EE.