St Matthew's Church of England Primary Academy

Preston · PR1 5XB

General information Primary School · 3-11 years Who goes here 415 pupils, 30.6% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 13% on SEN support Behaviour 6.7% absence rate Staff 9.5% turnover Financials £6,187 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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St Matthew's Church of England Primary Academy

General Information

Address: New Hall Lane, Preston, PR1 5XB – View on map
Phone: 01772794482
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Mark Mackley
Age range: 3-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 43 families put it first for 44 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 8 · 2024 10 · 2025 9 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

415 pupils out of 406 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 119
% eligible for free school meals: 30.6%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Preston average)
English as an additional language: 73% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 9.5% a year (Preston 13.4%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 60% moved to another school, 40% 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. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

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 Lancashire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 9 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 3
Suspensions for bullying: 18 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 7 (0.1 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 Lancashire (the council area this school is in), 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: 6.7%
Persistently absent pupils: 22.4%
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: 13.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 6.3%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 24 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 11 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 10 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 14 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Vision impairment: 1 pupil
Moderate 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

No overall grade given 2025 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 42% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 18 percentage points below the Preston average (60%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 39% against an expected 69%)
3-year average (expected standard): 39%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 68% · Writing 44% · Maths 67% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 74%
Average test scores: reading 104, maths 102
Based on: 57 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 schoolPreston averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 18 percentage points below the Preston average (60%).

Year 6 SATs: 41st of 47 junior and primary schools in the area

=38Cottam Primary School45%
#40The Roebuck School44%
#41St Matthew's Church of England Primary Academy42%
=42English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Preston41%
=42Fulwood and Cadley Primary School41%

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

=1Broughton-in-Amounderness Church of England Primary School88%
=1The Olive School, Preston88%
#3Sherwood Primary School86%
#4Barton St Lawrence Church of England Primary School81%
=5Goosnargh Whitechapel Primary School79%
=5Pool House Community Primary School79%
=5St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Preston79%
#8St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston78%
#9Grimsargh St Michael's Church of England Primary School77%
#10Brookfield Community Primary School76%
#11Woodplumpton St Anne's CofE Primary School75%
=12Queen's Drive Primary School74%
=12St Clare's Catholic Primary School, Preston74%
#14Fulwood, St Peter's Church of England Primary School and Nursery73%
#15Goosnargh Oliverson's Church of England Primary School72%
#16Ingol Community Primary School70%
#17Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew's Church of England Primary School68%
#18St Francis Catholic Primary School, Goosnargh67%
=19Lea Neeld's Endowed Church of England Primary School65%
=19Longsands Community Primary School65%
=19St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Preston65%
#22Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary School, Preston64%
#23Harris Primary School63%
#24Deepdale Community Primary School62%
=25Kennington Primary School60%
=25Lea Community Primary School60%
=27Brockholes Wood Community Primary School and Nursery58%
=27St Bernard's Catholic Primary School, Preston58%
#29St Stephen's CofE School55%
=30Fishwick Primary School53%
=30Preston Greenlands Community Primary School53%
#32Holme Slack Community Primary School52%
#33Catforth Primary School50%
#34Ribbleton Avenue Methodist Junior School49%
#35Preston Grange Primary School48%
=36Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Preston47%
=36St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston47%
=38Ashton Primary School45%
=38Cottam Primary School45%
#40The Roebuck School44%
#41St Matthew's Church of England Primary Academy42%
=42English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Preston41%
=42Fulwood and Cadley Primary School41%
#44Frenchwood Community Primary School39%
#45The Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School, Preston36%
=46Eldon Primary School26%
=46Moor Nook Community Primary School26%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,187 (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.

35th of 48 primary schools in Preston for spending per pupil

#33Fulwood and Cadley Primary School£6,209
#34St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Preston£6,209
#35St Matthew's Church of England Primary Academy£6,187
#36Queen's Drive Primary School£6,159
#37Fulwood, St Peter's Church of England Primary School and Nursery£6,122

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

#1Fishwick Primary School£10,289
#2Moor Nook Community Primary School£8,532
#3Holme Slack Community Primary School£8,350
#4St Francis Catholic Primary School, Goosnargh£8,256
#5Pool House Community Primary School£8,134
#6Brockholes Wood Community Primary School and Nursery£8,058
#7Ingol Community Primary School£8,032
#8Lea Community Primary School£7,990
#9Brookfield Community Primary School£7,725
#10Preston Greenlands Community Primary School£7,629
#11Preston Grange Primary School£7,571
#12Ashton Primary School£7,339
#13Catforth Primary School£7,338
#14Goosnargh Whitechapel Primary School£7,293
#15St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Preston£7,281
#16The Roebuck School£7,265
#17St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston£7,262
#18St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston£7,127
#19Lea Neeld's Endowed Church of England Primary School£7,022
#20Goosnargh Oliverson's Church of England Primary School£6,858
#21Eldon Primary School£6,684
#22St Stephen's CofE School£6,619
#23English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Preston£6,590
#24The Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School, Preston£6,509
#25Woodplumpton St Anne's CofE Primary School£6,438
#26Frenchwood Community Primary School£6,414
#27Kennington Primary School£6,405
#28Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Preston£6,371
#29Longsands Community Primary School£6,314
#30Sherwood Primary School£6,291
#31Deepdale Community Primary School£6,246
#32St Bernard's Catholic Primary School, Preston£6,241
#33Fulwood and Cadley Primary School£6,209
#34St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Preston£6,209
#35St Matthew's Church of England Primary Academy£6,187
#36Queen's Drive Primary School£6,159
#37Fulwood, St Peter's Church of England Primary School and Nursery£6,122
#38Harris Primary School£6,098
#39Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew's Church of England Primary School£5,944
#40Grimsargh St Michael's Church of England Primary School£5,913
#41Cottam Primary School£5,903
#42The Olive School, Preston£5,867
#43Barton St Lawrence Church of England Primary School£5,781
#44Broughton-in-Amounderness Church of England Primary School£5,719
#45Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary School, Preston£5,693
#46St Clare's Catholic Primary School, Preston£5,616
#47St Mary and St Andrew's Catholic Primary School, Barton Newsham£2,579
#48St Ignatius' Catholic Primary School, Preston£2,236

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

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