Morecambe and Heysham Westgate Primary School

About Morecambe and Heysham Westgate Primary School

Morecambe and Heysham Westgate Primary School received a Requires Improvement rating in its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2024, a downgrade from the Good it had held previously. The inspection report highlighted that while behaviour and attitudes, as well as early years provision, were judged Good, the quality of education, personal development, and leadership and management all require improvement. On the most telling academic metric available, just 49% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year. That figure sits well below the Lancashire local authority average of 60% and places the school 34th out of 46 primary schools in the Lancaster district. Only 3% of pupils reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined, and the school ranks in the bottom 50 nationally for this measure.

Looking more closely at the individual subject scores, 69% of pupils achieved the expected standard in maths, with an average scaled score of 102, while reading saw 60% at expected level and an identical average score of 102. Writing was slightly stronger, with 64% reaching the expected standard. However, progress scores are not available for any of the three subjects, so it is difficult to gauge how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is high at 40.2%, which is a significant contextual factor. The school is larger than many primaries, with 518 pupils on roll against a capacity of 630, and it is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 122 applications for 53 places, with 52 first-preference offers made.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a forest school, music rooms, an ICT suite, and a sports hall, alongside clubs such as art, drama, chess, science and eco club. Sports on offer include cricket, football, swimming and dance. The SEND provision is extensive, covering moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that serves a community with above-average disadvantage and has seen a dip in its Ofsted rating, but it remains popular with local families. It may suit parents who value a wide extracurricular offer and strong SEND support, but who are prepared to engage closely with the school during a period of required improvement.

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