St Luke's Church of England Primary School

St Luke's Church of England Primary School is a caring, nurturing and happy school where pupils feel safe and are well supported. Inspectors found the school to be good across its key areas, with particular strengths in pastoral support, reading and early years. The school is part of Peterborough Diocese Education Trust and this was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic; it remains a good school. Pupils benefit from a broad, ambitious curriculum and high expectations, and they achieve well overall. Reading is prioritised from Reception, phonics teaching is effective and pupils who need extra help are identified and supported quickly. Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and teachers adapt their approaches well. Behaviour is good, pupils are polite and kind, and they value the range of experiences and leadership roles on offer. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement are in a small number of foundation subjects. Checks on pupils' learning do not always identify precisely what pupils know and what needs to be revisited, and in some wider-curriculum subjects pupils' recall of key knowledge is not as secure as it could be. Leaders' high expectations are not yet fully realised in these subjects, including for pupils with particular talents, so some pupils are not consistently challenged to achieve the highest standards.

Strengths

• Caring, nurturing and happy school where pupils feel safe
• Staff know pupils and their needs extremely well
• Welcoming environment where new arrivals, including pupils who speak English as an additional language, settle quickly
• High expectations help pupils achieve well across the curriculum
• Pastoral support for pupils is a notable strength
• Pupils take on leadership roles such as peer mentors and school councillors
• Broad, ambitious and engaging curriculum with progressively built knowledge
• Reading is prioritised and phonics teaching is effective
• Pupils who need extra reading help receive timely and effective support
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and teachers adapt their approaches
• Strong early years provision with a sharp focus on speech and language
• Pupils behave well in classrooms and around the school
• Pupils access a wide range of experiences, including visits, competitions and music
• Parents and carers are well supported through workshops
• Trustees and governors are highly ambitious for the school
• Staff are proud to work at the school and value support for workload and wellbeing
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of foundation subjects, checks on learning do not precisely identify gaps in pupils' knowledge
• Pupils' recall of key knowledge is not consistently secure in a few wider-curriculum subjects
• High expectations are not fully realised in some foundation subjects, including for pupils with particular talents
• Some pupils are not consistently challenged to achieve the highest standards

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 Luke's Church of England Primary School attended 95.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.7% 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, 0.8% of pupils at St Luke's Church of England 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 Luke's Church of England Primary School had 23.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.2% 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, 7.9% of pupils at St Luke's Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 Luke's Church of England Primary School received £6,325 and spent £6,352 for each of its 394 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £419,000 (£1,063 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Peterborough Diocese Education Trust, income was £6,820 and spending £6,815 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.

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All schools in Northampton · West Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

St Luke's Church of England Primary School is part of Peterborough Diocese Education Trust, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• Kislingbury Primary School Northampton
• St James Church of England Primary School Northampton
• Milton Parochial Primary School Northampton
• Collingtree Church of England Primary School Northampton
• Spratton Church of England Primary School Northampton
• Greens Norton Church of England Primary School Towcester
• Sywell Church of England Primary School Northampton
• Towcester Church of England Primary School Towcester
• Guilsborough Church of England Primary School Northampton
• Mears Ashby Church of England Primary School Northampton

What is St Luke's Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Luke's Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was St Luke's Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Luke's Church of England Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does St Luke's Church of England Primary School have?

St Luke's Church of England Primary School has 391 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Luke's Church of England Primary School cover?

St Luke's Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Luke's Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 72% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Luke's Church of England Primary School?

St Luke's Church of England Primary School is at St Crispin Drive, Duston, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN5 4UL.