St John's Catholic Primary School, Liverpool
St John's Catholic Primary School is a primary school for pupils aged 2 to 11 in Liverpool. It has a Roman Catholic religious character. It was rated Outstanding at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in January 2016. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in November 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 58th-highest of the 177 schools in Liverpool with published results, and 5,775th of 14,452 across England. It was full in 2025.
- SATs results
- In line with England
- Ofsted
- Outstanding (2016)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- Attendance
- In line with England
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 81 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Liverpool (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
St John's Catholic Primary School in detail
St John's Catholic Primary School in its own words
In its own words: "We are very proud of our school which is a caring and happy environment. Our school is a warm, welcoming and inclusive one where children are supported and encouraged to enjoy learning and to develop their full potential. "The wide and rich range of experiences offered to pupils contributes well to their learning and enjoyment.""
The school runs a breakfast club.
Vision and values (school website)Wraparound care (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils at St John's Catholic Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 82% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 72% and 70% in Liverpool and 77% and 75% across England.
Results fell from 88% in reading and 86% in maths in 2024.
Getting a place at St John's Catholic Primary School
For September 2026 entry, 55 families put St John's Catholic Primary School as their first choice and 88 named it as one of their preferences, for 56 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 1 family who put it first was not offered a place there.
Admissions history and your chances at St John's Catholic Primary School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to St John's Catholic Primary School are Kirkdale St Lawrence CofE VA Primary School (0.3 miles); Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 88% reading, 78% maths); The Beacon Church of England Primary School (0.6 miles, Outstanding, 75% reading, 80% maths); and St Francis de Sales Catholic Junior School (0.6 miles, Outstanding, 75% reading, 82% maths).
St John's Catholic Primary School's 2025 results were higher than 2 of these 3 schools.
Kirkdale St Lawrence CofE VA Primary SchoolOur Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary SchoolThe Beacon Church of England Primary SchoolSt Francis de Sales Catholic Junior School
What parents say
20 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about St John's Catholic Primary School (as of September 2025): 90% would recommend the school, 95% say their child is happy there and 40% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child does well at the school (100%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (40%).
Who goes there
30.7% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
The largest ethnic groups are White British (61%), Black (11%) and Asian (8%).
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Bank Hall Rail Station, about 780 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).
13 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Medlock Street (adjacent), 100 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood St John's Catholic Primary School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
In August 2026, police recorded 638 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and public order offences. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Liverpool (342), as is usual near a town centre.
Suspensions and exclusions
St John's Catholic Primary School recorded no suspensions or permanent exclusions in 2024/25.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to St John's Catholic Primary School are Notre Dame Catholic Academy (0.6 miles), North Liverpool Academy (0.7 miles), Hillside High School (1 mile) and Alsop High School (1.1 miles).
Notre Dame Catholic AcademyNorth Liverpool AcademyHillside High SchoolAlsop High School
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); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from January 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 Insights
From Ofsted's November 2024 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
St John's excels at putting pupils' learning at the heart of everything it does, with strong subject knowledge and teaching that helps all children thrive. The school creates a calm, inclusive community where differences are valued, behaviour is exemplary, and pupils feel safe and happy. Staff are relentless in supporting vulnerable pupils and families, ensuring every child feels valued and has access to the school's wide range of activities and clubs.
Key Strengths
- Exceptional teaching of mathematics with careful checking of what pupils know before moving to the next step
- Outstanding curriculum focus on developing pupils' language and vocabulary from nursery onwards
- Rigorous approach to teaching phonics with consistent staff training and rapid progress support for struggling readers
- Exemplary pupil behaviour and a calm, kind, respectful school environment
- Excellent support for pupils with SEND who follow the same ambitious curriculum as their peers
Safeguarding
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
Extracurricular Activities
Musical instrument lessons and concerts, sports clubs, cultural visits to museums and galleries, eco-warriors club, mental health ambassadors, residential visits
St John's Catholic Primary School is an outstanding school where pupils thrive in a calm, well-ordered and supportive environment. Leaders, staff, parents, carers and pupils work exceptionally well together to implement an ambitious, well-designed curriculum with consistency, care and rigour.
At a Glance
22.5%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
20 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 88% to 78% (2024 to 2025). Maths has declined from 86% to 82% (2024 to 2025). Writing has declined from 84% to 73% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
31.2
Avg class size
29.2
Infant (KS1)
30.3
KS2
16
Total classes
4 classes 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 St John's Catholic Primary School
Term dates
St John's Catholic Primary School is a voluntary aided school, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Liverpool's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to St John's Catholic Primary School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. St John's Catholic Primary School is in Liverpool; for families living there:
- Liverpool's school travel policy: this document : Home to School Transport Policy 2026-27
- How to apply: Apply for a travel pass
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 86
- Fatal
- 1
- Serious
- 27
- Children hurt
- 13
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 86 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: 1 fatal, 27 serious and 58 slight.
13 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 7 on foot, 1 on a bicycle and 5 in a vehicle or otherwise.
11 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 Liverpool is 32 (the median across 193 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 St John's Catholic Primary School
Will you get a place at St John's Catholic Primary School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against St John's Catholic Primary School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for St John's Catholic Primary School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to St John's Catholic Primary School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Liverpool, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at St John's Catholic Primary School for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Liverpool 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
100%
Full
420 pupils
420 places
No spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Liverpool
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Liverpool
Across Liverpool council
Places available
5,870
Applications
4,736
Got 1st preference
88.6%
Got preferred school
97.3%
All primary applications across Liverpool council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(12)
Ungraded inspection: The school remains Outstanding, but Ofsted raised concerns; its next inspection will be a full graded one.
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
92
SEN Support
19
EHC Plans
21.2%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
524
Total Pupils
261
Boys
263
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
23
Teachers
22.8:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£49,676
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£6,211
Per pupil
£2910k
Total funding
£194k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
5.0%
Overall absence
12.8%
Persistent absence
366
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
St John's Catholic Primary School
Questions parents ask about St John's Catholic Primary School
What are SATs results like at St John's Catholic Primary School?
Of the pupils at St John's Catholic Primary School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 78% reached the expected standard in reading and 82% did so in maths.
What is St John's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?
St John's Catholic Primary School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in November 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in January 2016, it was rated Outstanding.
What is the catchment area for St John's Catholic Primary School?
No fixed boundary. When St John's Catholic Primary School is oversubscribed, Liverpool allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at St John's Catholic Primary School?
St John's Catholic Primary School was full in 2025, at 100% of its capacity, so places are allocated on the oversubscription criteria.
How big are the classes at St John's Catholic Primary School?
Classes at St John's Catholic Primary School average 31.2 pupils (2025/26). 4 classes have more than 30 pupils - infant classes are capped at 30 by law, with limited exceptions.
How many pupils go to St John's Catholic Primary School?
St John's Catholic Primary School has around 524 pupils on roll. 23% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at St John's Catholic Primary School?
5% of sessions were missed at St John's Catholic Primary School in 2024/25. 12.8% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to St John's Catholic Primary School?
Apply through Liverpool's coordinated admissions process, naming St John's Catholic 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.
How many road collisions happen near St John's Catholic Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 86 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: 1 fatal, 27 serious and 58 slight. 13 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 7 on foot, 1 on a bicycle and 5 in a vehicle or otherwise. 11 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 Liverpool is 32 (the median across 193 schools, same distance and years).
Where is St John's Catholic Primary School?
St John's Catholic Primary School is at Fountains Road, Kirkdale, Liverpool, Merseyside, L4 1UN.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)