St Thomas CofE Primary School

About St Thomas CofE Primary School

St Thomas CofE Primary School is a Church of England state primary in Wigan, one of 99 primary schools in the local authority. It ranks 82nd out of 98 schools in the area on the KS2 reading, writing and maths expected standard metric, placing it in the bottom half of Wigan primaries. The top-performing local peers include Nicol Mere School, Gilded Hollins Community School and Standish St Wilfrid's Church of England Primary Academy, all of which score significantly higher on the same measure. Nicol Mere, the nearest Outstanding-rated school, is just 1.2 kilometres away. St Thomas itself holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across its two most recent inspections, including an ungraded visit in June 2024 that confirmed the school remains Good. With 185 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, the school is undersubscribed in terms of total places, but admissions data for 2025/26 tells a more competitive story.

In its most recent KS2 assessments for the 2023/24 academic year, 52% of pupils at St Thomas met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is 13 percentage points below the Wigan local authority average of 65%. The school's ranking score of 52 on this metric places it in the bottom 50 nationally and in the 74th percentile nationally, meaning roughly a quarter of primary schools in England scored lower. Individual subject results show reading as the strongest area, with 72% of pupils reaching the expected standard and an average scaled score of 102. Writing followed at 76% expected, while maths sat at 59% expected with an average score of 100. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard in all three subjects was just 3%, with maths and reading both at 10% and writing at 7%. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points.

The school offers a range of facilities including an outdoor playground, playing fields, a library, a forest school, a dining hall and a chapel. Sports provision includes tennis, athletics, cross country and swimming, while clubs cover drama, choir, film club and chess. SEND provision is broad, with support for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate and severe learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, physical disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. The school is oversubscribed for Reception entry in 2025/26, with 42 applications for 10 places and only 7 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 4.2. This suggests strong local demand despite the below-average KS2 outcomes. St Thomas would suit families who value a Church of England setting with a broad range of enrichment activities and a clear SEND offer, and who are comfortable with a school that sits below the LA average on academic attainment.

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