St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School

About St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School

St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School stands out clearly against the Walsall local authority average for Key Stage 2 outcomes. The school achieved a 77% expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with the LA average of 61% — a gap of 16 percentage points that places it comfortably above the typical primary in the borough. That performance ranks it 8th out of 85 primary schools in Walsall, putting it in the top 25% nationally. The school is also oversubscribed, with 74 applications for 30 places in 2025/26 and 29 of those 30 going to first-preference families, which suggests strong local demand. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in December 2024, judged that the school had improved significantly since its previous graded inspection in 2016, when it was rated Good overall. Leadership and management were singled out as Outstanding in that 2024 visit, while early years provision, quality of education and overall effectiveness all remain Good.

Digging into the KS2 results, the school’s strongest subject is maths, where 85% of pupils met the expected standard and the average scaled score reached 109 — above the national benchmark of 100. Reading also performed well, with 79% at expected and an average score of 108. Where the school is less strong is at the higher standard: only 13% of pupils achieved the higher threshold in both reading, writing and maths combined, and writing at the higher level was also 13%. That said, the school’s overall ranking within Walsall is strong, and its percentile position in the West Midlands (15.5) and nationally (15.5) confirms it as a solidly above-average performer. The parent view, based on 14 responses collected between September 2024 and September 2025, is overwhelmingly positive: 93% would recommend the school, and 93% strongly agreed that their child is happy there. However, a small minority — 7% — strongly disagreed that their child feels safe, and 21% strongly disagreed that concerns are dealt with properly, so the picture is not entirely uniform.

The school is a Roman Catholic primary for children aged 3 to 11, with a nursery on site. It has a slightly above-capacity roll of 294 pupils against a published capacity of 288, and 25.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Facilities include an outdoor playground, art studios, an ICT suite, a dining hall and a chapel. Sports on offer include football, cricket, rounders and cross country, while clubs range from drama and choir to eco club and coding. The school’s SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate and severe learning difficulties, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health support. For Catholic families in Walsall who prioritise strong academic outcomes and a faith-based environment, this school is clearly a popular choice — but the oversubscription ratio of 2.47 means securing a place is competitive, particularly for those outside the faith criteria.

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