St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale
Ashurst Road, Ashurst, Skelmersdale, WN8 6TN
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mrs Angela Blacoe
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Liverpool
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- West Lancashire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 229
- URN
- 119588
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01695728989
About this school
St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Skelmersdale. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 229 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- 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 | 26 | 27 | 23 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 58% | 74% | 78% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 15% | 9% |
| Expected standard in reading | 58% | 81% | 91% |
| Expected standard in maths | 62% | 93% | 87% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 50% | 67% | 83% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 105.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.60 | - | - |
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 James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale 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 | 58% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 74% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 78% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 221 |
| 2023/24 | 220 |
| 2024/25 | 235 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale compares
St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale ranked 67th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 29% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 78% | 6.7% | 18% | 229 | — |
| Dalton St Michael's Church of England Primary School | — | 6.3% | 27.7% | 61 | 0.4 miles |
| Cobbs Brow School | 74% | 5.8% | 26.4% | 308 | 0.5 miles |
| Woodland Community Primary School | 69% | 8.2% | 49.4% | 335 | 0.6 miles |
| St John's Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale | 72% | 7.9% | 48.8% | 196 | 0.9 miles |
| Crow Orchard Primary School | 92% | 5.7% | 30.8% | 121 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.03%
- English as an additional language
- 8.9%
- Overall absence
- 6.65%
- Persistent absence
- 19.51%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Dalton St Michael's Church of England Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Wigan
-
Cobbs Brow School0.5 miles
Primary · Skelmersdale
-
Woodland Community Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Skelmersdale
-
St John's Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale0.9 miles
Primary · Skelmersdale
-
Crow Orchard Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Skelmersdale
Other schools in Skelmersdale
St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale ranks 3rd of the 18 ranked primary schools in Skelmersdale.
- Bishop Martin Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brookfield Park Primary School Primary
- Cobbs Brow School Primary
- Crawford Village Primary School Primary
- Crow Orchard Primary School Primary
- Delph Side Community Primary School Primary
- Hillside Community Primary School Primary
- Holland Moor Primary School Primary
- Little Digmoor Primary School Primary
- Moorside Community Primary Academy School Primary
- St Edmund's Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale teach?
- St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Skelmersdale.
- Who is the headteacher of St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale?
- The headteacher of St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale is Mrs Angela Blacoe, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale?
- St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale has 229 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale full?
- St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale has capacity for 210 pupils and 229 on roll (109%), 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 James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale a faith school?
- Yes. St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
- Does St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale as having nursery classes.
- How have St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 58% in 2022/23 and 78% 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 James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale ranked 67th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 29% 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 James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale's absence rate?
- St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale's overall absence rate is 6.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St James' Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale'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.