St Paul's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy
General Information
- Address: Buckstone Crescent, Alwoodley, Leeds, LS17 5ES – View on map
- Phone: 01132939901
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mr Philip Bowker
- Age range: 5-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 25 families put it first for 28 places – 9 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 9 · 2024 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 20
- % eligible for free school meals: 10.1%
- Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Leeds average)
- English as an additional language: 21% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 8.5% a year (Leeds 14.8%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 58% moved to another school, 42% 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. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Leeds: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 8 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 22 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 5 (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 Leeds, 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: 3.7%
- Persistently absent pupils: 4.3%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 13.1%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 0.0%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Speech, language and communications needs: 16 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
- Other difficulty or disability: 2 pupils
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Ofsted report card March 2026
Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.
- Safeguarding Met
- Inclusion Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
- Achievement Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
- Early years Expected standard
- Leadership and governance Strong standard
Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 74% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 23% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 13 percentage points above the Leeds average (61%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (3-year average 72% against an expected 65%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 72%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 87% · Writing 81% · Maths 84% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 87%
- Average test scores: reading 110, maths 110
- Based on: 31 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
Year 6 SATs: joint 58th of 214 junior and primary schools in the area
- =58Scholes (Elmet) Primary School74%
- =58Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy74%
- =58St Paul's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy74%
- =58Windmill Primary School74%
- =63Adel St John the Baptist Church of England Primary School73%
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £5,951 (2024-25)
191st of 214 primary schools in Leeds for spending per pupil
- #189Kerr Mackie Primary School£6,012
- #190Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy£5,990
- #191St Paul's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy£5,951
- #192Thorner Church of England Primary School£5,950
- #193St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Horsforth£5,891
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)