St Oswald's Catholic Primary School

About St Oswald's Catholic Primary School

St Oswald's Catholic Primary School is a state primary in Wigan with a clear demand signal: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 49 applications for just 30 places, an oversubscription ratio of 1.63. Of those, 28 families put it as their first preference, and 26 were offered a spot. The school currently has 251 pupils against a capacity of 330, so there is some physical headroom, but the popularity among local families is evident. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 20.3%, which is above the national average for primary schools and suggests a genuinely mixed intake. As a Roman Catholic school, it draws from a catchment that values faith-based education, but the religious character doesn't appear to limit its appeal given the application numbers. The school is mixed and covers ages 4 to 11, with no nursery provision or sixth form.

Academically, St Oswald's performs solidly against local benchmarks. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 67% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, just above the Wigan local authority average of 65%. The school ranks 45th out of 98 primary schools in the borough, placing it in the top half locally and in the top 50% nationally. Individual subject scores are respectable: a reading average score of 107, maths also 107, and 82% of pupils met the expected standard in maths specifically. At the higher end, 12% achieved the higher standard across all three subjects, while 39% did so in reading and 35% in maths. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in November 2022 confirmed it remains Good, a step down from its previous Outstanding rating in 2008, but the ungraded visit found no reason to change that judgement.

The school offers a strong set of facilities for a primary, including a sports hall, library, music rooms, art studios, a sensory room, a forest school area and a chapel. Sports provision covers cross country, tennis, swimming, rounders, dance and gymnastics, while clubs include coding, choir and science club. SEND support is broad, covering moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health, speech language and communication, visual impairment, physical disability and other difficulties. For families weighing up options, St Oswald's is a well-subscribed Catholic primary with above-average KS2 outcomes in its local authority, a Good Ofsted rating, and a wide range of facilities and support. It suits families who want a faith-based setting with strong demand from other local parents and a genuinely inclusive intake.

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