St Thomas' CofE Primary School, Leigh

About St Thomas' CofE Primary School, Leigh

St Thomas' CofE Primary School in Leigh is a state-funded Church of England primary for mixed pupils aged 4 to 11, currently home to 407 children against a capacity of 420. That means the school is running very close to full, and the demand is clear: for the 2025/26 intake, there were 90 applications for 55 places, making it officially oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.64 applicants per place. Only 34 of those applicants listed it as their first preference, which suggests a solid local reputation but not a frantic scramble. The school serves a community with above-average disadvantage — 27% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national primary average of around 23% and significantly higher than the Wigan local authority average of roughly 20%. This context matters because it shapes the kind of support the school needs to provide, and the data suggests St Thomas' is a genuinely inclusive, mixed-intake school rather than a selective or privileged one.

Academically, the picture is mixed. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 42% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is well below the Wigan local authority average of 65%. The school ranks 93rd out of 98 primary schools in Wigan on this measure, placing it in the bottom 50 nationally. Looking at individual subjects, reading and writing fared better than maths: 60% reached the expected standard in reading and 63% in writing, compared with 49% in maths. At the higher standard, just 4% of pupils achieved the top marks across all three subjects. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it's hard to say whether pupils are making strong gains from their starting points. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in January 2025, the school was rated Good across all areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management — with early years provision also rated Good. The previous inspection in 2015 also gave an overall Good rating, so the school has held a consistent grade over time.

On the practical side, St Thomas' offers a decent range of facilities including a library, ICT suite, art studios, a chapel, and an outdoor playground. Sports provision covers cricket, swimming, football and tennis, and there are clubs such as book club, drama, choir, art club, chess and film club. The school has a broad SEND offer, with provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, visual impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent View responses from 59 families between September 2024 and September 2025 show strong satisfaction: 93% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy, and 94% felt their child is safe. 85% would recommend the school to another parent. For families in Leigh looking for a Church of England primary with a genuinely inclusive intake and a Good Ofsted rating, St Thomas' is a solid, well-regarded local option — though those prioritising top academic outcomes may want to look at higher-performing peers in the area.

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