Ditton Primary School

Ditton Primary School has been inspected for the first time since becoming an academy and is rated as good overall. The school has established a coherent curriculum that supports the majority of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), in achieving well. Pupils are happy and enjoy a nurturing environment where staff foster caring relationships. The school emphasizes high expectations for learning and behavior, and students take pride in their accomplishments. However, there are some areas for improvement, particularly in ensuring that all teachers consistently identify and revisit the key knowledge for each subject.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and enjoy coming to school.
• High expectations for pupil achievement.
• Strong relationships between staff and pupils.
• Effective phonics curriculum that supports early reading.
• Pupils achieve well in most subjects.
• Strong support for pupils with SEND.
• Wide range of after-school clubs and leadership opportunities.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers unclear on key knowledge to teach in certain subjects.
• Lack of regular revisiting of important knowledge in some areas.
• Persistent absence of some pupils affecting their achievement.

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 Ditton Primary School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.3% 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, 2.2% of pupils at Ditton 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 Ditton Primary School had 17.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.9% 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, 15.5% of pupils at Ditton Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 Ditton Primary School received £7,452 and spent £7,272 for each of its 370 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £184,000 (£498 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Warrington Primary Academy Trust, income was £7,245 and spending £7,000 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

Ditton Primary School is part of Warrington Primary Academy Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Kingsway Primary Academy School Widnes
• Penketh Primary School Warrington
• Frodsham Primary Academy Frodsham
• Evelyn Street Primary Academy and Nursery Warrington
• Callands Primary Academy Warrington
• Beamont Primary School Warrington
• Alderman Bolton Primary School Warrington
• Bruche Academy Warrington

What is Ditton Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ditton Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2023.

When was Ditton Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ditton Primary School was last inspected in November 2023.

How many pupils does Ditton Primary School have?

Ditton Primary School has 322 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ditton Primary School cover?

Ditton Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Ditton Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ditton Primary School?

Ditton Primary School is at Liverpool Road, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8 7HD.