Gilded Hollins Community School

About Gilded Hollins Community School

Gilded Hollins Community School stands out sharply against the Wigan primary average. While the local authority average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2 sits at 65%, Gilded Hollins achieves a remarkable 97% — a full 32 percentage points higher. This places the school second out of 98 primary schools in Wigan, putting it in the top five per cent nationally. The school is also oversubscribed by a considerable margin, with 86 applications for just 30 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, and 25 of those offers going to first-preference families. That level of demand suggests local parents recognise the strong outcomes on offer here. Headteacher Christine Burns leads a school that is slightly over capacity with 212 pupils against a stated capacity of 210, and the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is relatively low at 9.4%, which may reflect the demographic profile of the catchment area.

Academically, the school’s performance is consistently high across all three core subjects. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 97% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths individually, and 10% reached the higher standard in all three combined. Average scaled scores were 108 in reading and 109 in maths, both comfortably above the national benchmark of 100. In terms of higher attainment, 29% of pupils achieved the higher standard in reading and maths, while 19% did so in writing. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in July 2023, confirmed that it remains Good, with leadership and management also rated Good. The previous graded inspection in 2014 had given the school a Good overall effectiveness rating, and the 2009 inspection had also rated it Good, so the school has maintained a consistent standard over time. There is no Progress 8 data available for this primary school, but the attainment figures speak clearly for themselves.

Beyond the classroom, Gilded Hollins offers a practical range of facilities including a library, sensory room, forest school, ICT suite, gymnasium and a chapel. Sports provision covers cricket, swimming, dance, tennis, gymnastics, football and athletics, while clubs include drama, choir, science club, chess, eco club and coding. The school’s SEND register covers moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, physical disability, autistic spectrum disorder and other difficulties, so it is equipped to support a broad range of additional needs. For families considering this school, the key takeaway is that it is heavily oversubscribed — 2.87 applications per place — so a first-preference application is essential. The nearest Outstanding-rated alternative is Leigh St John's CofE Primary, 3.2 kilometres away, but given Gilded Hollins’s strong results and Good rating, it is clearly a popular local choice.

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