Mereside Primary Academy

Blackpool · FY4 4RR

General information Primary School · 2-11 years Who goes here 266 pupils, 70.5% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 14.3% on SEN support Behaviour 7.4% absence rate Staff 20.3% turnover Financials £10,116 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Mereside Primary Academy

General Information

Address: Langdale Road, Blackpool, FY4 4RR – View on map
Phone: 01253761531
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr John McDonald
Age range: 2-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 23 families put it first for 24 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 8 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

266 pupils out of 454 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 160
% eligible for free school meals: 70.5%
Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (less mixed than the Blackpool average)
English as an additional language: 8% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 20.3% a year (Blackpool 11.8%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 21% moved to another school, 79% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Blackpool: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 1 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 1 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 2 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Blackpool, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 7.4%
Persistently absent pupils: 26.3%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 14.3%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.9%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 20 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 9 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 6 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Physical disability: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 18% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 39 percentage points below the Blackpool average (57%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 45% against an expected 52%)
3-year average (expected standard): 45%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 43% · Writing 36% · Maths 29% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 54%
Average test scores: reading 98, maths 97
Based on: 28 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolBlackpool averageEngland↘ Falling Down 44 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 39 percentage points below the Blackpool average (57%).

Year 6 SATs: 31st of 31 junior and primary schools in the area

#29St Kentigern's Catholic Primary School42%
#30Hawes Side Academy40%
#31Mereside Primary Academy18%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1St John Vianney's Catholic Primary School, Blackpool80%
=2Kincraig Primary School79%
=2Westcliff Primary Academy79%
#4Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School77%
#5Blackpool St Nicholas CofE Primary School75%
=6Holy Family Catholic Primary School73%
=6Unity Academy Blackpool73%
#8Waterloo Primary Academy70%
#9St Cuthbert's Catholic Academy66%
=10Baines' Endowed Church of England Primary Academy65%
=10Layton Primary School65%
#12Thames Primary Academy62%
#13Our Lady of The Assumption Catholic Primary School, Blackpool61%
#14Westminster Primary Academy60%
#15Marton Primary Academy and Nursery59%
#16Roseacre Primary Academy57%
#17Boundary Primary School56%
#18Stanley Primary School54%
#19Anchorsholme Primary Academy53%
=20Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School52%
=20Christ The King Catholic Academy52%
=22Devonshire Primary Academy47%
=22Norbreck Primary Academy47%
#24Revoe Learning Academy46%
#25Armfield Academy45%
=26Blackpool Gateway Academy44%
=26Moor Park Primary School44%
#28St Teresa's Catholic Primary School43%
#29St Kentigern's Catholic Primary School42%
#30Hawes Side Academy40%
#31Mereside Primary Academy18%

View full Ofsted inspection report

11th of 22 primary schools in Blackpool for Ofsted rating

#9Kincraig Primary SchoolGood
#10Marton Primary Academy and NurseryGood
#11Mereside Primary AcademyGood
#12Moor Park Primary SchoolGood
#13Norbreck Primary AcademyGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Layton Primary SchoolOutstanding
#2Anchorsholme Primary AcademyGood
#3Baines' Endowed Church of England Primary AcademyGood
#4Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary SchoolGood
#5Boundary Primary SchoolGood
#6Christ The King Catholic AcademyGood
#7Hawes Side AcademyGood
#8Holy Family Catholic Primary SchoolGood
#9Kincraig Primary SchoolGood
#10Marton Primary Academy and NurseryGood
#11Mereside Primary AcademyGood
#12Moor Park Primary SchoolGood
#13Norbreck Primary AcademyGood
#14Our Lady of The Assumption Catholic Primary School, BlackpoolGood
#15Revoe Learning AcademyGood
#16Roseacre Primary AcademyGood
#17St Cuthbert's Catholic AcademyGood
#18St John Vianney's Catholic Primary School, BlackpoolGood
#19St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
#20Stanley Primary SchoolGood
#21Thames Primary AcademyGood
#22Westcliff Primary AcademyGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £10,116 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

2nd of 30 primary schools in Blackpool for spending per pupil

#1Marton Primary Academy and Nursery£10,587
#2Mereside Primary Academy£10,116
#3Blackpool Gateway Academy£9,312
#4Thames Primary Academy£8,770

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Marton Primary Academy and Nursery£10,587
#2Mereside Primary Academy£10,116
#3Blackpool Gateway Academy£9,312
#4Thames Primary Academy£8,770
#5Revoe Learning Academy£8,580
#6Kincraig Primary School£8,426
#7Westminster Primary Academy£8,331
#8Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School£8,061
#9St John Vianney's Catholic Primary School, Blackpool£7,989
#10Devonshire Primary Academy£7,968
#11Boundary Primary School£7,967
#12Moor Park Primary School£7,717
#13Christ The King Catholic Academy£7,706
#14Waterloo Primary Academy£7,687
#15Hawes Side Academy£7,600
#16Layton Primary School£7,578
#17St Cuthbert's Catholic Academy£7,482
#18Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School£7,188
#19St Teresa's Catholic Primary School£6,961
#20Westcliff Primary Academy£6,903
#21Our Lady of The Assumption Catholic Primary School, Blackpool£6,782
#22Holy Family Catholic Primary School£6,573
#23St Kentigern's Catholic Primary School£6,542
#24Baines' Endowed Church of England Primary Academy£6,313
#25Blackpool St Nicholas CofE Primary School£6,200
#26Roseacre Primary Academy£6,199
#27Stanley Primary School£6,180
#28Norbreck Primary Academy£6,121
#29Anchorsholme Primary Academy£6,045
#30St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary School£4,470

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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