St Alban's Catholic Primary School, Walker

About St Alban's Catholic Primary School, Walker

St Alban’s Catholic Primary School in Walker was rated Good in its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2017, and a subsequent ungraded inspection in March 2024 confirmed the school remains Good. The most telling academic metric comes from the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, where 60% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That figure sits just below the Newcastle upon Tyne local authority average of 63%, placing the school 31st out of 55 primary schools in the area. While the combined score is close to the LA benchmark, the school’s individual subject results tell a more nuanced story: 83% of pupils reached the expected standard in maths, and 73% in reading, both comfortably above the national average. Writing was the weaker area, with 67% hitting the expected level. At the higher standard, 10% of pupils achieved the top marks across all three subjects, and the average scaled scores in reading (106) and maths (105) were solid.

The school’s performance is strongest in maths, where 23% of pupils achieved the higher standard, compared with 30% in reading and just 10% in writing. This pattern is reflected in the school’s national ranking: it sits in the bottom 50% of all primary schools nationally, at the 58th percentile, and in the 62nd percentile within the North East region. The school has no Progress 8 data available for Key Stage 2, so it is difficult to measure how much value it adds relative to pupils’ starting points. However, the Ofsted inspection noted that early years provision and leadership and management are both Good, and the school has held a Good rating consistently across its two most recent inspections. For context, only eight of the 72 primary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne have achieved an Outstanding rating, and the nearest one is St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School in Heaton, about two kilometres away.

St Alban’s is a Roman Catholic primary for children aged 3 to 11, with nursery provision on site. It has 227 pupils against a capacity of 297, and 37.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average. The school is oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake, there were 45 applications for 21 places, with all 21 first-preference applicants offered a spot. Facilities include a forest school, chapel, music rooms, art studios, library and gymnasium, and the school runs clubs such as science, chess, film, art, choir and eco club. Sports offered include football, dance, cricket, cross country and gymnastics. The school’s SEND provisions cover moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that suits families who value a faith-based setting with strong maths and reading outcomes, a broad range of extracurricular activities, and a clear commitment to supporting children with additional needs.

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