St Luke's CofE Primary School

About St Luke's CofE Primary School

St Luke's CofE Primary School in Oldham is a Church of England primary that runs very close to full, with 206 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210. The school serves a community with significantly higher-than-average levels of disadvantage: 41.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, compared with a national primary average of around 23%. That context makes the school's popularity all the more telling. For the 2025/26 intake, St Luke's received 52 applications for just 20 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.6. All 20 first-preference applicants were offered a place, but the numbers show that demand comfortably outstrips supply. The school is mixed, takes children from ages 4 to 11, and is led by headteacher Lee Bennett. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, in September 2023, rated the school Good overall, a notable improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in January 2020.

Academically, St Luke's sits in the bottom half of primary schools nationally and within Oldham, ranking 40th out of 67 in the local authority on the key stage 2 reading, writing and maths expected standard measure. In the 2023/24 results, 55% of pupils reached the expected standard in all three subjects, just below the Oldham local authority average of 58%. The school's strongest individual subject at KS2 was writing, where 79% met the expected standard and 17% reached the higher standard. Reading saw 69% at expected and 17% at higher, while maths had 59% at expected and 21% at higher. Only 3% of pupils achieved the higher standard across all three subjects. Progress scores are not available in the data, but average scaled scores were 104 in reading and 103 in maths, both slightly above the national baseline of 100. The school has no sixth form and no nursery provision.

St Luke's offers a solid range of facilities for a primary of its size, including a sports hall, ICT suite, sensory room, art studios, forest school, playing fields and a chapel. Sports on offer include cricket, cross country, dance and football, and there are clubs for science, eco and film. The school has identified SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, speech, language and communication needs, social, emotional and mental health needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families considering alternatives, the nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Westwood Academy, 1.2 km away. St Luke's is a church school that has clearly built a strong local reputation, as the oversubscription figures show, and it suits families who value a community-focused primary with a clear improvement trajectory and a broad set of enrichment activities despite its relatively modest academic ranking.

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