Barnston Primary School
Sandham Grove, Heswall, Wirral, CH60 1XW
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lynsey Thompson-Broom
- Constituency
- Wirral West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 315
- Pupils on roll
- 299
- URN
- 105030
- Local authority
- Wirral
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01513425229
About this school
Barnston Primary School is a community primary school in Wirral. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 299 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 47 | 39 | 38 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 74% | 72% | 82% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 21% | 36% | 29% |
| Expected standard in reading | 83% | 82% | 89% |
| Expected standard in maths | 81% | 85% | 87% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 85% | 85% | 87% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 109.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 108.0 | 108.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.90 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Barnston Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Wirral average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 74% | 52% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 72% | 50.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 82% | 53.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 2.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 309 |
| 2023/24 | 309 |
| 2024/25 | 302 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Barnston Primary School compares
Barnston Primary School ranked 7th of 75 primary schools in Wirral for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 90% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 98% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 82% | 3% | 2.7% | 299 | — |
| Gayton Primary School | 82% | 3.7% | 3.2% | 213 | 0.9 miles |
| Heswall Primary School | 68% | 4.6% | 18.7% | 257 | 0.9 miles |
| Heswall St Peter's CofE Primary School | 70% | 4.8% | 4% | 276 | 1.1 miles |
| Thornton Hough Primary School | 100% | 3.6% | 5.6% | 185 | 1.3 miles |
| Pensby Primary School | 50% | 4.8% | 14.6% | 224 | 1.6 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 2.65%
- English as an additional language
- 2%
- Overall absence
- 3%
- Persistent absence
- 1.84%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Gayton Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Wirral
-
Heswall Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Wirral
-
Heswall St Peter's CofE Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Wirral
-
Thornton Hough Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Wirral
-
Pensby Primary School1.6 miles
Primary · Wirral
Other schools in Wirral
Barnston Primary School ranks 7th of the 47 ranked primary schools in Wirral.
- Black Horse Hill Infant School Primary
- Black Horse Hill Junior School Primary
- Brackenwood Infant School Primary
- Brackenwood Junior School Primary
- Brookdale Primary School Primary
- Brookhurst Primary School Primary
- Castleway Primary School Primary
- Cathcart Street Primary School Primary
- Chapelhill Primary School Primary
- Christ The King Catholic Primary School Primary
- Church Drive Primary School Primary
- Co-op Academy Woodslee Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Barnston Primary School teach?
- Barnston Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Wirral.
- Who is the headteacher of Barnston Primary School?
- The headteacher of Barnston Primary School is Mrs Lynsey Thompson-Broom, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Barnston Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Barnston Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Barnston Primary School?
- Barnston Primary School has 299 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Barnston Primary School full?
- Barnston Primary School has capacity for 315 pupils and 299 on roll (95%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Barnston Primary School a faith school?
- No. Barnston Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Barnston Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Barnston Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Barnston Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 74% in 2022/23 and 82% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Barnston Primary School rank locally?
- Barnston Primary School ranked 7th of 75 primary schools in Wirral for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 90% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 98% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Barnston Primary School's absence rate?
- Barnston Primary School's overall absence rate is 3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Barnston Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Barnston Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.