St Alban's CofE (Aided) Primary School

About St Alban's CofE (Aided) Primary School

St Alban's CofE (Aided) Primary School sits at the top of the Rotherham primary school rankings, coming first out of 84 schools in the local authority. It holds the highest ranking score in the area, ahead of nearby peers including Whiston Worrygoose Junior and Infant School, Roughwood Primary School, and Wickersley Northfield Primary School. The school is a Church of England state primary for mixed genders aged 3 to 11, led by headteacher Amy Gurner. In its most recent Ofsted inspection, the school was rated Good overall, with all key areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management — each judged Good. The early years provision also received a Good rating. This represents a change from the school's previous inspection, where it was rated Outstanding. The ungraded inspection that followed noted that the school had improved significantly. With 249 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, the school is clearly popular, and its 8.4 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals is below the national average.

Academically, St Alban's performs well above the local average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 94 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Rotherham local authority average of 60 per cent. Every pupil reached the expected standard in maths and in writing individually, while 94 per cent did so in reading. The school also saw strong performance at the higher standard: 39 per cent of pupils achieved a higher score in reading, 32 per cent in writing, and 19 per cent in maths. Average scaled scores were 109 in reading and 107 in maths. Nationally, the school ranks 103rd out of 13,686 primary schools for the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in all three subjects, placing it in the top one per cent of schools across the country. In the Yorkshire and the Humber region, it ranks 8th out of 1,506 schools.

The school is heavily oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 academic year, there were 72 applications for 30 places, with 39 first-preference applications and all 30 offers going to first-preference families — an oversubscription ratio of 2.4. Facilities include a sports hall, sensory room, outdoor playground, art studios and a chapel. The school offers a range of sports including football, cricket, swimming, athletics, tennis and dance, plus clubs such as art, eco and science clubs. SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, visual impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent views are overwhelmingly positive: 93 per cent of respondents would recommend the school, and 94 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school. However, on the question of whether the school gives SEND children the support they need, 40 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed, which is worth noting for families with children who have additional needs.

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