St Bridget's Catholic Primary School

About St Bridget's Catholic Primary School

St Bridget’s Catholic Primary School in Warrington was rated Good by Ofsted in its most recent inspection in February 2023, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2019. The school now holds Good across all five inspected categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The most telling exam metric for this primary school is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which sits at 60 per cent. That is below the Warrington local authority average of 69 per cent, placing the school 42nd out of 55 similar schools in the borough and in the bottom half nationally. However, individual subject results tell a slightly stronger story: 70 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in reading and in maths, and 67 per cent in writing, with average scaled scores of 104 in both reading and maths.

The school’s Progress 8 scores are not available, so it is not possible to measure how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. At the higher standard, only 3 per cent of pupils achieved the higher benchmark in reading, writing and maths combined, with 17 per cent reaching the higher standard in reading and maths individually. These figures place St Bridget’s in the bottom 50 per cent of primary schools nationally, according to the ranking metric based on the combined expected standard. The school serves a community with relatively high disadvantage: 54.1 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. The most recent Ofsted report noted that behaviour and attitudes are Good, and inspectors observed that pupils feel safe and happy. The school has a Roman Catholic character and is led by headteacher Ceri Dobson, with a total roll of 194 pupils against a capacity of 205.

St Bridget’s offers a broad range of facilities including a library, ICT suite, sports hall, gymnasium, music rooms, outdoor playground, playing fields, a chapel, and a Forest School area. Sports on offer include athletics, football, tennis, cricket, rounders and cross country, while clubs range from choir and chess to science, coding, art and book club. The school has a nursery provision and provides support for a wide range of special educational needs, including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, speech and language needs, social and emotional mental health, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 34 applications for 18 places, with all 18 first-preference applicants offered a place. This suggests strong local demand, particularly from Catholic families in Warrington. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary school is St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, 2.5 km away, which may be an alternative for families who prioritise a top Ofsted grade.

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