Moorside Community Primary Academy School, Skelmersdale
Moorside Community Primary Academy School is a primary school for pupils aged 2 to 11 in Skelmersdale. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in March 2020. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in March 2025 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 12th-highest of the 18 schools in Skelmersdale with published results, and 9,396th of 14,452 across England. For 2026 entry it had 1.4 first-choice applications for every place. It was 99% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- In line with England
- Ofsted
- Good (2020)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- Attendance
- In line with England
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 81 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Lancashire (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Moorside Community Primary Academy School in detail
Moorside Community Primary Academy School in its own words
In its own words: "At Moorside Academy our primary aim as educators is to ensure that our pupils are safe, happy and ready to learn . The ethos of our school is that the foundations are built firmly on peace and respect , regardless of an individual’s role in the academy."
The school runs a breakfast club and after-school care until 4:15pm.
Vision and values (school website)Wraparound care (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils at Moorside Community Primary Academy School reached the expected standard in reading and 79% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 75% and 74% in Lancashire and 77% and 75% across England.
Results fell from 77% in reading and 83% in maths in 2024.
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at Moorside Community Primary Academy School
For September 2026 entry, 37 families put Moorside Community Primary Academy School as their first choice and 84 named it as one of their preferences, for 27 places offered. That is 1.4 first choices for every place. 10 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Admissions history and your chances at Moorside Community Primary Academy School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Moorside Community Primary Academy School are Holland Moor Primary School (0.2 miles, Good, 84% reading, 86% maths); Bishop Martin Church of England Primary School (0.3 miles, 69% reading, 81% maths); St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School (0.4 miles, Good, 30% reading, 20% maths); and Hillside Community Primary School (0.6 miles, Good, 65% reading, 70% maths).
Moorside Community Primary Academy School's 2025 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.
Holland Moor Primary SchoolBishop Martin Church of England Primary SchoolSt Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary SchoolHillside Community Primary School
What parents say
61 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Moorside Community Primary Academy School (as of September 2025): 95% would recommend the school, 98% say their child is happy there and 77% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (98%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (77%).
Who goes there
51.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 10.2% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Upholland Rail Station, about 0.9 miles away in a straight line.
10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Hare and Hounds (opposite), 160 metres away.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Moorside Community Primary Academy School issued 13 suspensions, 5.1 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; Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Our estimate from how close the nearest similar schools are and how oversubscribed the council's schools are. It is not a published boundary.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from March 2020, 6 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
Latest (ungraded) inspection: Standards have been maintained.
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's March 2025 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Moorside is a warm, welcoming school where children flourish academically and personally. Staff work hard to support all learners, including those with additional needs, and pupils develop important life skills through leadership roles and a range of enrichment activities. Parents praise the school highly and feel genuinely valued as part of the school community.
Key Strengths
- Strong sense of community where pupils feel valued and safe
- Effective support for pupils with SEND, with well-trained staff tailoring individual learning plans
- Secure teaching in English and mathematics with staff quickly addressing misconceptions
- Pupils develop leadership skills through roles like librarians, subject ambassadors and school councillors
- Successfully implemented new early reading programme starting in the early years
Areas for Improvement
- Some one-to-one support for early readers is not as effective as it could be, and persistent absence means some pupils miss vital learning
- In other subjects, learning is sometimes uneven and not as deep as it should be
- Teachers need to identify more clearly the most important content pupils must master in non-core subjects
- Assessment checks in some subjects do not sufficiently ensure pupils understand and remember key content long-term
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with the school creating an open and positive culture around safeguarding.
Extracurricular Activities
Ukulele lessons, after-school clubs, sporting events, breakfast club, outdoor reading shed activities
Moorside Community Primary Academy School has successfully maintained the good standards from its previous inspection. Pupils feel a strong sense of belonging and achieve well, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics.
At a Glance
51.2%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
61 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has declined from 77% to 66% (2024 to 2025). Maths has declined from 83% to 79% (2024 to 2025). Writing has declined from 77% to 72% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
28.3
Avg class size
27.0
Infant (KS1)
28.8
KS2
8
Total classes
1 class with more than 30 pupils
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Social & online
Keep up with Moorside Community Primary Academy School
Before and after school care
Moorside Community Primary Academy School is on the Department for Education's free breakfast clubs programme (list updated July 2026), which pays for a free breakfast club for pupils before school. Source: Free breakfast clubs: schools on the programme, Department for Education Free breakfast clubs in Lancashire
Term dates
Moorside Community Primary Academy School is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Lancashire's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Moorside Community Primary Academy School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Moorside Community Primary Academy 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
- 21
- Fatal
- 1
- Serious
- 6
- Children hurt
- 3
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 21 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: 1 fatal, 6 serious and 14 slight.
3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 3 on foot.
3 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 Moorside Community Primary Academy School
Will you get a place at Moorside Community Primary Academy School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Moorside Community Primary Academy School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Moorside Community Primary Academy School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Moorside Community Primary Academy School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Lancashire, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Moorside Community Primary Academy 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
99%
Near capacity
201 pupils
202 places
1 spare place 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: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(3)
Ungraded inspection: Standards have been maintained.
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
32
SEN Support
13
EHC Plans
17.6%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
256
Total Pupils
139
Boys
117
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
10
Teachers
25.6:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£49,048
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£6,270
Per pupil
£1498k
Total funding
£162k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
5.8%
Overall absence
17.7%
Persistent absence
181
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
Moorside Community Primary Academy School
Questions parents ask about Moorside Community Primary Academy School
What are SATs results like at Moorside Community Primary Academy School?
Of the pupils at Moorside Community Primary Academy School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 66% reached the expected standard in reading and 79% did so in maths.
What is Moorside Community Primary Academy School's Ofsted rating?
Moorside Community Primary Academy School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in March 2025, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in March 2020, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Moorside Community Primary Academy School?
No fixed boundary. When Moorside Community Primary Academy 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 Moorside Community Primary Academy School?
Moorside Community Primary Academy School was full in 2025, at 100% of its capacity, so places are allocated on the oversubscription criteria.
How big are the classes at Moorside Community Primary Academy School?
Classes at Moorside Community Primary Academy School average 28.3 pupils (2025/26). 1 class has more than 30 pupils - infant classes are capped at 30 by law, with limited exceptions.
How many pupils go to Moorside Community Primary Academy School?
Moorside Community Primary Academy School has around 256 pupils on roll. 51% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Moorside Community Primary Academy School?
5.8% of sessions were missed at Moorside Community Primary Academy School in 2024/25. 17.7% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Moorside Community Primary Academy School?
Apply through Lancashire's coordinated admissions process, naming Moorside Community Primary Academy 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.
Does Moorside Community Primary Academy School have a breakfast club or after-school club?
Moorside Community Primary Academy School is on the Department for Education's free breakfast clubs programme (list updated July 2026), which pays for a free breakfast club for pupils before school.
How many road collisions happen near Moorside Community Primary Academy School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 21 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: 1 fatal, 6 serious and 14 slight. 3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 3 on foot. 3 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 Moorside Community Primary Academy School?
Moorside Community Primary Academy School is at Back Lane, Holland Moor, Skelmersdale, Lancashire, WN8 9EA.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)