Ofsted: Outstanding trending_up High Demand emoji_events #143 in Lancashire public Top 17% UK

The Willows Catholic Primary School, Kirkham

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Sharon Barnett

location_onPreston, PR4 2BT

language Visit Website phone 1772684371

verified

Ofsted

Outstanding

Inspected 2015

groups

Students

209

school

Expected Standard

77%

local_fire_department

Demand Ratio

1.7x

summarize

The Willows Catholic Primary School, Kirkham is a Voluntary aided school primary school in Preston, serving ages 4-11. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted — the highest possible grade. Highly competitive: 1.7× more applications than places — plan well ahead. Ranks in the top 17% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

The Willows Catholic Primary School, Kirkham is a voluntary aided school in Preston, Lancashire, admitting pupils aged 4-11. The school has approximately 209 pupils on roll.

In 2025, 77% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 10% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #143 of 465 primaries in Lancashire and #5,671 of 15,231 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2015. The school's current overall rating is Outstanding.

The school is oversubscribed — in the most recent cycle, there were 1.7× as many applications as places, making a successful application competitive.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 23.2:1. There are no current teaching vacancies. Teacher turnover in the previous year was 11.1%.

In the 2023/24 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.3 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

77%

LA 59%

Reading87% LA 73%

Writing83% LA 69%

Maths87% LA 72%

Read SS

106

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

106

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

57%

LA 58%England 61%

Reading83% LA 73% · Eng 74%

Writing77% LA 70% · Eng 72%

Maths70% LA 71% · Eng 73%

Read SS

106

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

41%

LA 58%England 60%

Reading52% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing72% LA 71% · Eng 71%

Maths62% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Read SS

102

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

100

Progress (0 = national avg)

-3.9

Read

LA -0.2

-6.2 to -1.6

-1.9

Write

LA 0.1

-4.1 to 0.3

-2.6

Maths

LA -0.3

-4.8 to -0.5

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

86%

LA 64%England 65%

Reading89% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing86% LA 77% · Eng 78%

Maths93% LA 77% · Eng 79%

Read SS

107

Maths SS

107

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

2.4

Read

LA -0.2

0.1 to 4.7

1.1

Write

LA 0.1

-1.0 to 3.2

1.7

Maths

LA -0.2

-0.3 to 3.7

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

81%

LA 65%

Reading85% LA 76%

Writing88% LA 78%

Maths92% LA 75%

Read SS

109

Maths SS

108

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

1.4

Read

LA 0.1

-1 to 3.8

-1.4

Write

LA 0.1

-3.6 to 0.8

1.8

Maths

LA 0.0

-0.4 to 4

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

Inspection Report

31 October 2024

Inspection Report

11 January 2022

Inspection Report

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01 December 2015

Inspection Report

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28 March 2014

Inspection Report

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02 March 2011

Inspection Report

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24 June 2008

Inspection Report

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14 June 2004

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

2 Evaluations

2015-12-01

Maintained Academy and School Short inspection Legacy

Outstanding

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Outstanding

2011-03-02

None Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.5%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.5%(1 pupils)

Summer term 2024

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.063% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Summer term of 2024, this school served a headcount of 209 pupils. During this period, there were 1 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.5%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2023/24 (Summer term)	209	1	0.5%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	209	0	0.0%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	209	1	0.5%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	209	2	1.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	209	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	209	0	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	208	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	211	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	212	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	210	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	213	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	213	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	208	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	208	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	206	0	0.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	205	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	203	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	201	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	193	1	0.5%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	192	2	1.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	194	2	1.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	178	1	0.6%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	180	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	179	0	0.0%	0.5%