St Stephen's CofE Primary School
Manchester Road, Astley, Manchester, M29 7BT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Jill Southern
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Manchester
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Worsley and Eccles
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 236
- Pupils on roll
- 240
- URN
- 106482
- Local authority
- Wigan
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01942882412
About this school
St Stephen's CofE Primary School is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school in Manchester. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 240 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
- 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 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 60% | 60% | 63% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 3% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 77% | 80% | 77% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 77% | 80% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 73% | 70% | 77% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 105.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 102.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.40 | - | - |
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 Stephen's CofE 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 | Wigan average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 60% | 62.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 60% | 62.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 63% | 63.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 210 |
| 2023/24 | 209 |
| 2024/25 | 213 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Stephen's CofE Primary School compares
St Stephen's CofE Primary School ranked 55th of 97 primary schools in Wigan for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 63% | 3.9% | 19.3% | 240 | — |
| St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School | 73% | 3.8% | 8.6% | 212 | 0.3 miles |
| Tyldesley Primary School | 81% | 4.7% | 5.6% | 441 | 0.5 miles |
| Garrett Hall Primary School | 77% | 4.3% | 6.5% | 520 | 0.8 miles |
| Tyldesley St George's Central CofE Primary School and Nursery | 61% | 5.6% | 40.3% | 330 | 0.9 miles |
| Holy Family Catholic Primary School | 73% | 4.1% | 12.8% | 213 | 1.0 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)
- 19.25%
- English as an additional language
- 4.7%
- Overall absence
- 3.91%
- Persistent absence
- 6.01%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Manchester
-
Tyldesley Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Manchester
-
Garrett Hall Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Manchester
-
Tyldesley St George's Central CofE Primary School and Nursery0.9 miles
Primary · Manchester
-
Holy Family Catholic Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Manchester
Other schools in Manchester
St Stephen's CofE Primary School ranks 119th of the 252 ranked primary schools in Manchester.
- Abbey Hey Primary Academy Primary
- Abbott Community Primary School Primary
- Acacias Community Primary School Primary
- Acre Hall Primary School Primary
- Aldwyn Primary School Primary
- Alkrington Primary School Primary
- All Saints C of E Primary School Primary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School, Stand Primary
- All Saints Primary School Primary
- Alma Park Primary School Primary
- Armitage CofE Primary School Primary
- Ashbury Meadow Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Stephen's CofE Primary School teach?
- St Stephen's CofE Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Manchester.
- Who is the headteacher of St Stephen's CofE Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Stephen's CofE Primary School is Jill Southern, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Stephen's CofE Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Stephen's CofE 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 Stephen's CofE Primary School?
- St Stephen's CofE Primary School has 240 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St Stephen's CofE Primary School full?
- St Stephen's CofE Primary School has capacity for 236 pupils and 240 on roll (102%), so it is at or above 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 Stephen's CofE Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St Stephen's CofE Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Manchester.
- Is St Stephen's CofE Primary School a selective school?
- No. St Stephen's CofE Primary School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Does St Stephen's CofE Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Stephen's CofE Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have St Stephen's CofE Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 60% in 2022/23 and 63% 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 Stephen's CofE Primary School rank locally?
- St Stephen's CofE Primary School ranked 55th of 97 primary schools in Wigan for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% 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 Stephen's CofE Primary School's absence rate?
- St Stephen's CofE Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Stephen's CofE Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Stephen's CofE 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.