St Ambrose Catholic Academy

St Ambrose Catholic Academy is a warm, closely knit primary school where pupils feel happy, safe and ready to learn. This was its first section 5 inspection, following conversion to academy status in 2022; the predecessor school had been judged requires improvement. Inspectors found the school is now good in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and early years provision, with personal development judged outstanding. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Pupils are warmly welcomed and feel happy, safe and ready to learn.
• Pupils behave highly positively and demonstrate the school’s values.
• The curriculum is ambitious and engages pupils in gaining deep knowledge.
• Pupils achieve well across the curriculum.
• The early years setting is vibrant and prioritises children’s language development.
• Pupils benefit from exceptional pastoral care and a wide range of enrichment opportunities.
• Staff identify and support pupils with SEND swiftly and effectively.
• Reading is a high priority and phonics teaching is effective.
• Attendance has improved through rigorous systems and supportive work with families.
• Personal development is rooted in the school culture, with pupils demonstrating tolerance, respect and understanding of democracy and the rule of law.
• Parents value the close-knit community and the support the school gives them.
• Most staff feel valued and appreciate the coaching offered by the school and trust.

Areas for Improvement

• In a minority of subjects, systems for checking what pupils know and remember over time are less effective, so gaps in learning go unaddressed.
• Some pupils in the early stages of learning to write do not consistently have letter formation and spelling errors addressed.
• The school should ensure pupils’ learning is secure before introducing new concepts.
• The school should ensure pupils have the writing skills they need to be successful by the end of key stage 1.

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 Ambrose Catholic Academy attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 24.4% 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, 2.0% of pupils at St Ambrose 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 Ambrose Catholic Academy had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.1% 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, 19.9% of pupils at St Ambrose Catholic Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.0% 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 Ambrose Catholic Academy received £9,158 and spent £9,324 for each of its 196 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £101,000 (£516 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £9,073 and spending £8,887 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 Liverpool · Liverpool local authority: places and applications

St Ambrose Catholic Academy is part of St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• St Francis Xavier's Catholic Academy Liverpool
• Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy Runcorn
• St Charles' Catholic Academy Liverpool
• St Nicholas Catholic Academy Liverpool
• St Cuthbert's Catholic Academy St Helens
• The Trinity Catholic Academy Liverpool
• Notre Dame Catholic Academy Liverpool
• St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy St. Helens
• Holy Spirit Catholic Academy Bootle
• Holy Family Catholic Academy Wigan

What is St Ambrose Catholic Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Ambrose Catholic Academy is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was St Ambrose Catholic Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Ambrose Catholic Academy was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does St Ambrose Catholic Academy have?

St Ambrose Catholic Academy has 181 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Ambrose Catholic Academy cover?

St Ambrose Catholic Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

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

Where is St Ambrose Catholic Academy?

St Ambrose Catholic Academy is at Alderfield Drive, Speke, Liverpool, Merseyside, L24 7SF.