St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton, Manchester

Ofsted's report card from its 28 April 2026 inspection grades St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton on 7 areas: 1 expected standard and 6 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Pupils learn to respect the views and beliefs of others, including those from different backgrounds and faiths."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Pupils are not as well prepared for their next stage of education as they could be."

Attendance and behaviour - Needs attention. "In some classes, pupils do not meet the school's high expectations for behaviour."

Curriculum and teaching - Needs attention. "The quality of teaching is inconsistent across year groups and subjects."

Early years - Needs attention. "In the early years, some children do not gain secure knowledge of the sounds that they need to read words accurately."

Inclusion - Needs attention. "Leaders do not put in place support that is closely matched to the needs of the most vulnerable pupils."

Leadership and governance - Needs attention. "Leaders do not check whether their work is making a positive difference for pupils with sufficient rigour."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Governors should make sure that they understand how well pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, learn and achieve so that they can hold leaders to account effectively for improving outcomes for all pupils"; "Leaders should make sure that their quality assurance of the curriculum and teaching is more sharply focused on the impact of teaching on pupils, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, so that teaching improves consistently across the school"; "Leaders should make sure that they identify pupils' barriers to learning more precisely so that effective support is quickly put in place and helps pupils to achieve well"; "Leaders should make sure that teachers consistently identify and rectify errors and gaps in pupils' knowledge of spelling, grammar and mathematics so that pupils build secure foundational knowledge in these subjects"; "Leaders should make sure that staff apply the behaviour policy consistently and provide effective support for pupils who struggle to manage their behaviour so that all pupils meet the school's high expectations throughout the school day"; "Leaders should make sure that activities in the early years provision support children to learn well and that staff engage children in high-quality interactions to develop and extend children's knowledge and prepare them for learning in Year 1".

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils at St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton reached the expected standard in reading and 75% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 78% and 79% in Wigan and 77% and 75% across England.

Results fell from 81% in reading and 87% in maths in 2024.

With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.

For September 2026 entry, 11 families put St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton as their first choice and 36 named it as one of their preferences, for 16 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state primary schools to St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton are Meadowbank Primary School (under 0.1 miles, Good, 87% reading, 87% maths); Atherton St George's CofE Primary School (0.2 miles, Good, 78% reading, 76% maths); St Philip's CofE Primary School, Atherton (0.5 miles, Good, 80% reading, 80% maths); and Chowbent Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 61% reading, 54% maths).

St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton's 2025 results were higher than 1 of these 4 schools.

36.4% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 29.3% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (40%), Black (33%) and Asian (6%).

St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton had 7 teachers in 2026, one for every 27 pupils: fewer teachers per pupil than a typical primary school, at about one for every 20.

The nearest railway station is Hag Fold Rail Station, about 520 metres away (roughly a 6-minute walk).

25 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Brierfield Avenue (opposite), 30 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In 2024/25, St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton issued 7 suspensions, 3.8 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The secondary schools closest to St Richard's Roman Catholic Primary School Atherton are Atherton High School (0.5 miles), Fred Longworth High School (1.2 miles) and Westhoughton High School (1.7 miles).