St Paul's Catholic Primary School
Farmfield Drive, Prenton, CH43 7TE
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mrs Julie Shire
- Diocese
- Diocese of Shrewsbury
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Birkenhead
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 120
- Pupils on roll
- 99
- URN
- 105070
- Local authority
- Wirral
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01516527828
About this school
St Paul's Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Prenton. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 99 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Early years
- Needs attention
- 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 | 11 | 14 | 15 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 45% | 50% | 53% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 73% | 79% | 87% |
| Expected standard in maths | 45% | 64% | 87% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 55% | 50% | 80% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 105.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 99.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.60 | - | - |
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 St Paul's Catholic 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 | 45% | 52% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 50% | 50.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 53% | 53.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 113 |
| 2023/24 | 109 |
| 2024/25 | 111 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Paul's Catholic Primary School compares
St Paul's Catholic Primary School ranked 45th of 75 primary schools in Wirral for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53% | 7.6% | 67.5% | 99 | — |
| Manor Primary School | 56% | 6.7% | 60.9% | 117 | 0.2 miles |
| Bidston Village CofE (Controlled) Primary School | 27% | 6.9% | 68.4% | 404 | 0.6 miles |
| Chapelhill Primary School | 50% | 9.3% | 63.9% | 83 | 0.7 miles |
| Holy Cross Catholic Primary School | 73% | 7.1% | 81.6% | 185 | 0.8 miles |
| Co-op Academy Hillside | 48% | 6.5% | 50% | 177 | 0.8 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)
- 67.5%
- English as an additional language
- 7.2%
- Overall absence
- 7.55%
- Persistent absence
- 30%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Manor Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Wirral
-
Bidston Village CofE (Controlled) Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Prenton
-
Chapelhill Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Wirral
-
Holy Cross Catholic Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Birkenhead
-
Co-op Academy Hillside0.8 miles
Primary · Prenton
Other schools in Prenton
St Paul's Catholic Primary School ranks 4th of the 7 ranked primary schools in Prenton.
- Bidston Village CofE (Controlled) Primary School Primary
- Co-op Academy Hillside Primary
- Oxton St Saviour's CofE Primary School Primary
- Prenton Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Birkenhead Primary
- St Peter's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Ridgeway High School Secondary
- St Anselm's College Secondary
- Birkenhead High School Academy All-through
- The Observatory School Special schools
- Birkenhead School Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does St Paul's Catholic Primary School teach?
- St Paul's Catholic Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Prenton.
- Who is the headteacher of St Paul's Catholic Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Paul's Catholic Primary School is Mrs Julie Shire, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Paul's Catholic Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Paul's Catholic 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 St Paul's Catholic Primary School?
- St Paul's Catholic Primary School has 99 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is St Paul's Catholic Primary School full?
- St Paul's Catholic Primary School has capacity for 120 pupils and 99 on roll (83%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is St Paul's Catholic Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St Paul's Catholic Primary School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Shrewsbury.
- Does St Paul's Catholic Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Paul's Catholic Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have St Paul's Catholic Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 45% in 2022/23 and 53% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Paul's Catholic Primary School rank locally?
- St Paul's Catholic Primary School ranked 45th of 75 primary schools in Wirral for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Paul's Catholic Primary School's absence rate?
- St Paul's Catholic Primary School's overall absence rate is 7.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Paul's Catholic Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Paul's Catholic 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 15 July 2026.