St Anne's Catholic Primary School

About St Anne's Catholic Primary School

St Anne’s Catholic Primary School in Knowsley holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across its two most recent inspections. The most telling academic metric comes from the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, where 64% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That figure sits above the local authority average of 60%, placing the school 19th out of 47 primary schools in Knowsley. Within the North West region it ranks in the top half of all primaries, and nationally it sits around the 45th percentile. The school’s strongest individual subject at KS2 was maths, where 84% of pupils met the expected standard and 45% achieved the higher standard, compared with 32% in reading and just 7% in writing at the higher level. Average scaled scores were 107 in maths and 106 in reading. The school’s overall ranking score of 64 places it just behind the top three in the borough, which all scored 77 or above.

Digging deeper into the Ofsted picture, the school’s most recent inspection in 2021 was an ungraded visit that confirmed it remains Good. The previous graded inspection in 2016 rated overall effectiveness, leadership and management, and early years provision all as Good. The 2011 inspection had also rated overall effectiveness as Good, with early years provision at Requires Improvement at that point, so there has been clear progress in that area. The school has 340 pupils on roll, which exceeds its stated capacity of 280, suggesting strong local demand. Around 14.9% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, slightly below the national average for primary schools. The school does not have a sixth form, but does offer nursery provision for children from age three. The headteacher is Liam Anderson.

For families considering St Anne’s, the school is clearly popular: for 2025/26 admissions, it received 83 applications for 43 places, making it oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.93 applicants per place. Of those, 36 were first-preference offers, matching the number of first-preference applications. The school’s facilities include a dining hall, library, music rooms, sports hall, playing fields and a chapel. Sports on offer include athletics, swimming, tennis, dance, cricket and cross country, while clubs cover coding, science and art. The school has identified SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, 1.6 km away. This school will suit Catholic families in Knowsley who want solid academic outcomes above the local average, with a broad range of extracurricular activities and clear SEND support.

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