St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

About St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

Parents considering St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School will find strong signals of satisfaction from those already there. In the most recent Parent View survey, covering responses from September 2024 to September 2025, a striking 94% of the 17 respondents said they would recommend the school to other parents. The feedback is particularly emphatic on happiness and safety: 88% of parents strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and the same proportion strongly agreed that their child feels safe. Behaviour is also a clear strength, with 76% strongly agreeing that pupils are well behaved. The school is clearly popular locally, too. For the 2025/26 academic year, St Francis was oversubscribed, receiving 88 applications for just 22 places, a ratio of four applicants for every place. Of those, 21 were first-preference applications, and 21 first-preference offers were made, meaning almost all successful families had listed it as their top choice.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2024 judged its overall effectiveness as not formally graded, but the breakdown is revealing. Behaviour and attitudes, and personal development, were both rated Outstanding, while the quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision were all rated Good. At Key Stage 2, 53% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is below the Leeds local authority average of 61%. This places the school 140th out of 204 primary schools in Leeds, putting it in the bottom half of the league table for this measure. Average scores in reading and maths were both 104, and while 73% of pupils reached the expected standard in both reading and writing, only 7% achieved the higher standard in those subjects. In maths, 27% reached the higher standard. The school has a higher-than-average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 39.5%, which may provide important context for these outcomes.

The school offers a notably broad range of facilities for a primary of its size, including a library, forest school, ICT suite, sensory room, music rooms, sports hall, playing fields, and a chapel. There is also a nursery provision for children from age three. The school’s SEND provision covers a wide spectrum, including support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. The Parent View data on SEND support was not answered by any respondents, so it is difficult to gauge parental satisfaction in this area from the survey alone. With 231 pupils on roll against a capacity of 240, the school is nearly full, and given the oversubscription ratio of 4:1, families applying from outside the Catholic faith or the immediate catchment area should be prepared for strong competition for places. This is a school that clearly inspires strong loyalty from its existing families, particularly around pastoral care and personal development.

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