Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School
Preston Road, Whittle-le-Woods, Chorley, PR6 7PS
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Mrs Deborah Metcalfe
- Diocese
- Diocese of Blackburn
- Constituency
- Chorley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 242
- Pupils on roll
- 240
- URN
- 119478
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01257262732
About this school
Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school in Chorley. It teaches children aged 4 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 35 | 31 | 32 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 86% | 77% | 81% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 20% | 10% | 13% |
| Expected standard in reading | 94% | 81% | 91% |
| Expected standard in maths | 89% | 87% | 84% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 91% | 84% | 91% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 109.0 | 105.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | +3.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +3.60 | - | - |
| 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 Whittle-le-Woods Church of England 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 | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 86% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 77% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 81% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 243 |
| 2023/24 | 239 |
| 2024/25 | 241 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School compares
Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School ranked 40th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 89% 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 | 81% | 3% | 4.2% | 240 | — |
| Clayton-le-Woods Manor Road Primary School | 64% | 3.4% | 5.6% | 250 | 0.8 miles |
| Clayton-le-Woods Church of England Primary School | 42% | 5.1% | 7.7% | 219 | 0.9 miles |
| Trinity Church of England/Methodist Primary School, Buckshaw Village | 64% | 4% | 8.7% | 559 | 1.0 miles |
| St Bede's Catholic Primary School | 65% | 4.6% | 14.8% | 207 | 1.2 miles |
| St Chad's Catholic Primary School | 62% | 2.7% | 1.5% | 139 | 1.2 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)
- 4.15%
- English as an additional language
- 5.4%
- Overall absence
- 3.02%
- Persistent absence
- 3.83%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Clayton-le-Woods Manor Road Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
Clayton-le-Woods Church of England Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
Trinity Church of England/Methodist Primary School, Buckshaw Village1.0 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
St Bede's Catholic Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
St Chad's Catholic Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Chorley
Other schools in Chorley
Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School ranks 4th of the 40 ranked primary schools in Chorley.
- Abbey Village Primary School Primary
- Adlington Primary School Primary
- Adlington St Paul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Balshaw Lane Community Primary School Primary
- Brindle St James' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Brinscall St John's CofE and Methodist Primary School Primary
- Buckshaw Primary School Primary
- Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit Primary
- Chorley St James' Church of England Primary School Primary
- Chorley, the Parish of St Laurence Church of England Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Charnock Richard CofE Primary School Primary
- Clayton-le-Woods Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School teach?
- Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Chorley.
- Who is the headteacher of Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School?
- The headteacher of Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School is Mrs Deborah Metcalfe, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Whittle-le-Woods Church of England 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 Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School?
- Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School has 240 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School full?
- Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School has capacity for 242 pupils and 240 on roll (99%), 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 Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Blackburn.
- Does Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 86% in 2022/23 and 81% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School rank locally?
- Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School ranked 40th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 89% 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 Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School's absence rate?
- Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School's overall absence rate is 3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Whittle-le-Woods Church of England 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 30 June 2026.