St Paul's Church of England Aided Primary School

About St Paul's Church of England Aided Primary School

St Paul's Church of England Aided Primary School in Wolverhampton has turned a corner academically. In its most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in February 2025, inspectors awarded a Good rating across every category they judged — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. That is a clear step up from the school's previous graded inspection in September 2022, when it was rated Requires Improvement across the board. The most telling exam metric comes from the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results: just 46 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That figure sits well below the Wolverhampton local authority average of 64 per cent, and it places the school 54th out of 60 primary schools in the borough, putting it in the bottom 50 per cent nationally. So while the Ofsted story is one of genuine improvement, the academic outcomes remain a work in progress.

Digging into the individual subject scores gives a fuller picture. In reading, 64 per cent of pupils hit the expected standard and 25 per cent reached the higher standard, with an average scaled score of 104. Writing saw 61 per cent at expected and 11 per cent at higher. Maths was the weakest area: 57 per cent at expected, 14 per cent at higher, and an average score of 101. The school does not have progress scores published for the 2023/24 cohort, so it is hard to say how much value it is adding relative to pupils' starting points. But the raw attainment figures suggest that while reading and writing are closer to the national picture, maths is a particular challenge. The school's ranking score of 46 out of 100, based on the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in all three subjects, confirms it is in the bottom tier locally. For context, the top-performing school in Wolverhampton, St Bartholomew's Church of England Primary, scored 95.

On the ground, St Paul's is a small, oversubscribed primary with 223 pupils against a capacity of 218, and it received 34 applications for 18 places in the 2025/26 admissions round — all 18 first-preference offers were taken up. The school serves a community with high levels of disadvantage: 41.5 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Parents are broadly positive, with 89 per cent saying they would recommend the school. In the Parent View survey, 94 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy, and 95 per cent felt their child is safe. The school offers a nursery, a Forest School, a sensory room, and a chapel, plus clubs including gardening, eco club and choir. SEND support covers specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional needs, and speech and language needs. This is a school that has improved its behaviour and leadership sharply, but where academic results still lag behind the local average — a realistic choice for families who value pastoral care and a Church of England ethos over headline exam scores.

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