St William's Catholic Primary School, Wigan

Good
Primary
Voluntary aided school
Mixed
Roman Catholic
Ages 311

Data last updated 11 Sept 2026

Location

Very likely (~405m)Possible (~579m)Unlikely (~753m)Confidence: high

Estimated admission likelihood based on school density and oversubscription data

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Mrs Emily Ellis
Pupils:235 / 210 capacity
LA:Wigan
Phone:01942235782
Address:Ince Green Lane, Ince-in-Makerfield, Wigan, WN2 2DG
Admissions:Not applicable
Status:open

Ofsted Rating

Ofsted · 3 years ago
-

Overall

Inspected 13 December 2023View full report
URN:106497
UKPRN:10078704
Diocese:Archdiocese of Liverpool
Constituency:Wigan
Urban/Rural:Urban: Nearer to a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

What This School Does Well

St William's has created a warm, caring environment where all pupils thrive. Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and create interesting lessons that help even children starting with low skills make rapid progress. The school's strong leadership has driven impressive improvements in teaching quality and pupil achievement across all subjects.

Key Strengths

  • Pupils of all abilities make good progress from their starting points, with children entering with low skills developing well by Year 6
  • Teaching is consistently good with some outstanding practice; teachers have excellent subject knowledge and create interesting, well-matched lessons
  • Strong positive relationships and warm, caring atmosphere throughout the school where pupils feel safe and behave well
  • Excellent marking of writing and pupil presentation in exercise books; significant improvement in handwriting
  • Effective leadership and management with strong support for teaching improvements and effective tracking of pupil progress

Areas for Improvement

  • Not enough outstanding teaching - need to increase proportion of outstanding lessons
  • Teachers sometimes spend too long introducing lessons before pupils move to independent work, slowing progress
  • In some lessons, adults over-direct learning, limiting opportunities for pupils to work independently and problem-solve

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is effective - pupils feel safe, bullying is rare, and pupils have excellent understanding of how to stay safe in different situations including internet safety.

St William's Catholic Primary School is a good school that has made significant improvements since the last inspection. Pupils' achievement in all subjects has rapidly improved and is now good, with consistently good teaching and positive pupil behavior.

At a Glance

42.9%

Free School Meals

No

Boarding

Yes

Nursery

No

Sixth Form

No

Special Measures

Primary Performance (KS2)

Academic year 2025/26

KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)

2024
2025
Reading-15ppMaths-11ppWriting+6pp

Reading has declined from 83% to 68%. Maths has declined from 86% to 75%. Writing has improved from 55% to 61%.

Class Sizes

29.4

Avg class size

29.5

Infant (KS1)

29.3

KS2

7

Total classes

1 class with more than 30 pupils

2024/25 academic year

Social & online

Getting There

Train Stations

Ince (Manchester) Rail Station
409m · 7 min walk

Bus Stops

Amar Street (nr)
97m · 2 min walk
Ince Bar (SW-bound)
186m · 3 min walk
Pinewood Crescent (Stop A)
225m · 4 min walk
Canal Street (NE-bound)
297m · 5 min walk
Greenfield Avenue (SE-bound)
298m · 5 min walk
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Capacity & Demand

School Occupancy

112%

Over capacity

235 pupils

210 capacity

25 places over capacity

Area Demand Pressure - Wigan

Low pressure
New homes approved:4,457
Projected new pupils:1,114

Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Wigan

Admissions Demand - Wigan

Low demand0.92x oversubscription

Places available

3,894

Applications

3,601

Got 1st preference

89.7%

Got preferred school

97.0%

Primary admissions across Wigan (2025/26)

Inspection History(6)

13 December 2023
14 November 2018
Leadership & ManagementGood
13 November 2013
Quality of EducationGood
Behaviour & AttitudesGood
Personal DevelopmentGood
Leadership & ManagementGood

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SEN Provision

How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.

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Pupil Demographics

The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.

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Teachers & Staff

Teacher qualification rates, pupil-to-teacher ratio, staff turnover, and salary data. Shows how well-resourced and stable the school's workforce is.

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School Funding

Annual funding per pupil, total budget, pupil premium grants, and how the school's resources compare to similar schools nationally.

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Pupil Absence
2024/25

5.89333%

Overall absence

16.66667%

Persistent absence

180

Enrolments

Authorised3.5788%
Unauthorised2.31453%
Persistent (10%+)16.66667%
Severe (50%+)0%

Absence trend

4.10183%
18/19
3.70411%
20/21
6.33502%
21/22
6.2343%
22/23
6.12633%
23/24
5.89333%
24/25
Overall absence rate

Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.

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