Widnes Academy

Widnes Academy is performing well, maintaining its status as a good school. The pupils enjoy their time here, demonstrating a sense of community and mutual respect. Leaders have designed a broad and ambitious curriculum, and there is a clear focus on ensuring that pupils learn to read effectively from a young age. Parents appreciate the approachable staff, and pupils benefit from various extracurricular activities, fostering their independence and social skills. Despite the overall positive outlook, there are a few areas needing attention, particularly in ensuring that all teachers are consistently aware of the essential knowledge required in certain subjects. Some teaching approaches are not yet fully developed, leading to missed opportunities for some pupils to achieve their potential. Additionally, while most pupils behave well, occasional disruptions occur indicating a need for stronger behavior management across the staff.

Strengths

• Strong sense of community and respect among pupils
• High expectations set by teachers promoting hard work
• Broad and ambitious curriculum designed for all pupils
• Effective phonics program leading to fluent reading by Year 2
• Strong support for pupils with SEND ensuring equitable access to education
• Well-trained staff delivering clear explanations and assessments
• Variety of extracurricular activities enhancing pupil engagement
• Community engagement positively regarded by parents and staff

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent clarity on essential knowledge in some subjects
• Some teachers lack understanding of optimal teaching methods
• Occasional disruptions in learning due to inconsistent behavior management

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 Widnes Academy attended 93.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.7% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Widnes 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 Widnes Academy had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.9% 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, 20.5% of pupils at Widnes Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.9% 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 Widnes Academy received £8,923 and spent £8,088 for each of its 128 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £156,000 (£1,218 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Wade Deacon Trust, income was £9,213 and spending £8,949 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 Widnes · Halton local authority: places and applications

Widnes Academy is part of Wade Deacon Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• The Grange School Runcorn
• Weston Point Primary Academy Runcorn
• Wade Deacon High School Widnes
• Oakdene Primary Academy Prescot
• Halewood Academy Knowsley
• Yew Tree Primary Academy Knowsley
• Whiston Willis Primary Academy Prescot
• Sylvester Primary Academy Liverpool
• Hillside High School Bootle

What is Widnes Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Widnes Academy is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

When was Widnes Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Widnes Academy was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does Widnes Academy have?

Widnes Academy has 127 pupils on roll.

What age range does Widnes Academy cover?

Widnes Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Widnes Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 43% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Widnes Academy?

Widnes Academy is at Cholmondeley Street, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8 0EL.