St Austin's Catholic Primary School

About St Austin's Catholic Primary School

St Austin's Catholic Primary School sits well below the St. Helens local authority average for Key Stage 2 outcomes, with just 33% of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a LA average of 61%. That gap of 28 percentage points places the school 46th out of 47 primary schools in the borough, in the bottom 2% nationally. The picture is similarly stark in individual subjects: only 37% of pupils met the expected standard in maths, 40% in reading, and 57% in writing. The proportion reaching the higher standard is tiny — just 3% across all three subjects, and 7% in each of reading, maths and writing individually. For parents focused on headline academic metrics, these figures will give serious pause. However, the school's story is not one of static underperformance. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022, St Austin's was rated Good across all categories — a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2018, when leadership and management were also judged inadequate.

The 2022 Ofsted report notes that quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, early years provision, and leadership and management are all now Good. This turnaround suggests that while exam results remain low, the school has made real progress in its core operations. The average reading score was 98 and maths 97, both just below the national benchmark of 100, so pupils are not dramatically behind. The school's Progress 8 scores are not available in the data, so it is hard to say whether pupils are making expected progress from their starting points. What is clear is that the school serves a relatively disadvantaged intake: 34.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. That context matters when interpreting raw attainment figures. The school also has nursery provision and a chapel, and offers a range of sports including gymnastics, swimming, football and tennis, plus clubs like science, gardening and drama.

St Austin's is a popular school despite its academic ranking. For the 2025/26 intake, it received 56 applications for 23 places, an oversubscription ratio of 2.43, and all 23 first-preference applicants were offered places. That suggests strong local demand, likely driven by its Catholic character and the sense of community parents value. The school has a gymnasium, sports hall, music rooms and an outdoor playground, and its SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder, and social, emotional and mental health support. For families who prioritise a supportive, faith-based environment and are comfortable with below-average exam results, St Austin's may be a good fit. Those seeking the strongest academic outcomes in St. Helens would be better served by schools like Eccleston Lane Ends Primary, the nearest Outstanding-rated school, 2.1 km away.

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