St Thomas CofE Primary School
General Information
- Address: Hodnet Drive, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, WN4 8PQ – View on map
- Phone: 01942201107
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Leanne Cowley
- Age range: 4-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 18 families put it first for 23 places – 8 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 7 · 2024 9 · 2025 7 · 2026 8
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Church of England
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 41
- % eligible for free school meals: 23.6%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the Wigan average)
- English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 7.6% a year (Wigan 12.9%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 0% moved to another school, 100% 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 Wigan: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 4 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 2 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 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 Wigan, 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: 4.7%
- Persistently absent pupils: 11.9%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 13.8%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.2%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Moderate learning difficulty: 6 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 4 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
- Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Vision impairment: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2024 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 59% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 14% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 7 percentage points below the Wigan average (66%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 58% against an expected 63%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 58%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 62% · Writing 72% · Maths 69% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 72%
- Average test scores: reading 106, maths 106
- Based on: 29 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: 63rd of 97 junior and primary schools in the area
- =59St Paul's Church of England Primary School60%
- =59Twelve Apostles Catholic Primary School60%
- #63St Thomas CofE Primary School59%
- =64Canon Sharples Church of England Primary School and Nursery58%
- =64Newton Westpark Primary School58%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
68th of 75 primary schools in Wigan for Ofsted rating
- #66St Philip's CofE Primary School, AthertonGood
- #67St Thomas CofE Junior and Infant SchoolGood
- #68St Thomas CofE Primary SchoolGood
- #69St Thomas' CofE Primary School, LeighGood
- #70St William's Catholic Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £6,747 (2024-25)
48th of 98 primary schools in Wigan for spending per pupil
- #46St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School£6,819
- #47Bedford Hall Methodist Primary School£6,765
- #48St Thomas CofE Primary School£6,747
- #49Twelve Apostles Catholic Primary School£6,728
- #50Leigh Westleigh Methodist Primary School£6,714
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)