Little Digmoor Primary School, Skelmersdale
Little Digmoor Primary School is a primary school for pupils aged 3 to 11 in Skelmersdale. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in April 2016. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in October 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 14th-highest of the 18 schools in Skelmersdale with published results, and 10,901st of 14,452 across England. It was 97% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2016)
- Demand
- Every first choice offered
- Attendance
- Below England average
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 80 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Lancashire (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
Little Digmoor Primary School in detail
Little Digmoor Primary School in its own words
In its own words: "At Little Digmoor we believe that education is a great leveller, where every child has the opportunity to thrive and succeed regardless of their background or circumstances. We believe that, as a school, we must provide a nurturing and inclusive environment, where we do everything we can to remove any barriers to learning."
Vision and values (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 73% of Year 6 pupils at Little Digmoor Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 64% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 75% and 74% in Lancashire and 77% and 75% across England.
Results rose from 60% in reading and 40% in maths in 2024.
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at Little Digmoor Primary School
For September 2026 entry, 13 families put Little Digmoor Primary School as their first choice and 34 named it as one of their preferences, for 13 places offered. That is one first choice for every place. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.
Admissions history and your chances at Little Digmoor Primary School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Little Digmoor Primary School are St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School (0.4 miles, Good, 30% reading, 20% maths); Bishop Martin Church of England Primary School (0.5 miles, 69% reading, 81% maths); Delph Side Community Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 81% reading, 85% maths); and Hillside Community Primary School (0.7 miles, Good, 65% reading, 70% maths).
Little Digmoor Primary School's 2025 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary SchoolBishop Martin Church of England Primary SchoolDelph Side Community Primary SchoolHillside Community Primary School
Who goes there
59.4% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 34.1% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
The largest ethnic groups are White British (62%), Black (9%) and Mixed (8%).
In 2026, 30 pupils (21.7%) received SEN support and 4 (2.9%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Upholland Rail Station, about 1.4 miles away in a straight line.
2 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Gillibrands Road (by), 230 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Little Digmoor Primary School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Little Digmoor Primary School issued 7 suspensions, 4.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Every family who put it first was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance did not limit places that year.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from April 2016, 10 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted's report, in its own words
What is it like to attend this school?
Pupils are happy at school. They particularly value times when they can play and socialise together. Pupils are respectful and take good care of each other. They are patient and kind. Pupils understand that some members of their school community may need more help at times, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
Children in the early years quickly settle at the school. They benefit from the well-established routines in place and high expectations for behaviour. Most pupils in key stages 1 and 2 maintain high standards of behaviour in class and as they move around the school. Those who find this more difficult respond well to the calm and consistent approaches used by members of staff.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
The school understands the community it serves well. It has redesigned its curriculum since the last inspection to better match the needs of pupils and their interests. The new curriculum is ambitious. It sets out what pupils are expected to learn and the order that this should happen within each class. Members of the governing body have worked closely with staff to ensure that workload has not been unduly affected during this period of change.
Despite ongoing improvements to the curriculum, the school has not delved deeply enough to identify why pupils continue to underachieve. This is most notable in writing. The school does not check the improvements it has made with enough rigour. It has not identified some of the reasons why changes made are not bringing about the expected improvement in the quality of education that pupils receive.
From Ofsted's October 2024 ungraded inspection report: the opening paragraphs of each section, quoted word for word. Read the full report Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Ofsted Insights
Ofsted rated this school Good at its April 2016 inspection - up from Requires Improvement.
Rated Good for
Leadership & management.
At a Glance
59.4%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has improved from 60% to 73% (2024 to 2025). Maths has improved from 40% to 64% (2024 to 2025). Writing has improved from 13% to 32% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
17.3
Avg class size
17.3
Infant (KS1)
17.3
KS2
8
Total classes
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Keep up with Little Digmoor Primary School
Term dates
Little Digmoor Primary School is a community school, so its term dates are set by Lancashire. Training (INSET) days, when pupils are not in school, vary by school: check the school's own calendar.
2026 to 2027
- Autumn term: Tuesday 1 September to Friday 18 December 2026 (half term Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2026)
- Spring term: Monday 4 January to Thursday 25 March 2027 (half term Monday 15 February to Friday 19 February 2027)
- Summer term: Monday 12 April to Wednesday 21 July 2027 (half term Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June 2027)
2027 to 2028
- Autumn term: Wednesday 1 September to Friday 17 December 2027 (half term Monday 25 October to Friday 29 October 2027)
- Spring term: Tuesday 4 January to Friday 31 March 2028 (half term Monday 14 February to Friday 18 February 2028)
- Summer term: Tuesday 18 April to Friday 21 July 2028 (half term Monday 29 May to Friday 2 June 2028)
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Little Digmoor Primary School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Little Digmoor Primary School is in Lancashire; for families living there:
- Lancashire's school travel policy: school transport policies
- How to apply: Apply for free home to school transport assistance
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 13
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 6
- Children hurt
- 0
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 13 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 6 serious and 7 slight.
No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt.
1 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Lancashire is 12 (the median across 707 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Little Digmoor Primary School
Will you get a place at Little Digmoor Primary School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Little Digmoor Primary School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Little Digmoor Primary School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Little Digmoor Primary School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Lancashire, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Little Digmoor Primary School for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Lancashire got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
97%
Near capacity
136 pupils
140 places
4 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Skelmersdale
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Skelmersdale
Across Lancashire council
Places available
15,442
Applications
12,122
Got 1st preference
91.3%
Got preferred school
98.3%
All primary applications across Lancashire council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(9)
Ungraded inspection: The school remains Good.
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
30
SEN Support
4
EHC Plans
24.6%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
138
Total Pupils
68
Boys
70
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
6
Teachers
23.0:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£48,960
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£7,280
Per pupil
£1127k
Total funding
£130k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
10.5%
Overall absence
32.3%
Persistent absence
124
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Questions parents ask about Little Digmoor Primary School
What are SATs results like at Little Digmoor Primary School?
Of the pupils at Little Digmoor Primary School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 73% reached the expected standard in reading and 64% did so in maths.
What is Little Digmoor Primary School's Ofsted rating?
Little Digmoor Primary School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in October 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in April 2016, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Little Digmoor Primary School?
No fixed boundary. When Little Digmoor Primary School is oversubscribed, Lancashire allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Little Digmoor Primary School?
Little Digmoor Primary School was close to full in 2025, at 97% of its capacity.
How big are the classes at Little Digmoor Primary School?
Classes at Little Digmoor Primary School average 17.3 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Little Digmoor Primary School?
Little Digmoor Primary School has around 138 pupils on roll. 59% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Little Digmoor Primary School?
10.5% of sessions were missed at Little Digmoor Primary School in 2024/25. 32.3% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Little Digmoor Primary School?
Apply through Lancashire's coordinated admissions process, naming Little Digmoor Primary School on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
What are Little Digmoor Primary School's term dates?
Little Digmoor Primary School is a community school, so its term dates are set by Lancashire. In 2026 to 2027: Autumn term: Tuesday 1 September to Friday 18 December 2026 (half term Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2026); Spring term: Monday 4 January to Thursday 25 March 2027 (half term Monday 15 February to Friday 19 February 2027); Summer term: Monday 12 April to Wednesday 21 July 2027 (half term Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June 2027). In 2027 to 2028: Autumn term: Wednesday 1 September to Friday 17 December 2027 (half term Monday 25 October to Friday 29 October 2027); Spring term: Tuesday 4 January to Friday 31 March 2028 (half term Monday 14 February to Friday 18 February 2028); Summer term: Tuesday 18 April to Friday 21 July 2028 (half term Monday 29 May to Friday 2 June 2028).
How many road collisions happen near Little Digmoor Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 13 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 6 serious and 7 slight. No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt. 1 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Lancashire is 12 (the median across 707 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Little Digmoor Primary School?
Little Digmoor Primary School is at Abbeystead, Skelmersdale, Lancashire, WN8 9NF.
Sources: Lancashire term dates; Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)