Smithdown Primary School
Chatsworth Drive, Liverpool, L7 6LJ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Philip Horne
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Liverpool Wavertree
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 450
- Pupils on roll
- 484
- URN
- 131597
- Local authority
- Liverpool
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01517096229
About this school
Smithdown Primary School is a community primary school in Liverpool. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 484 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Smithdown Primary School, 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
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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Early years
- Strong 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 | 60 | 57 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 58% | 61% | 50% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 7% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 77% | 65% | 73% |
| Expected standard in maths | 82% | 81% | 68% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 77% | 72% | 73% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 111.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 109.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +3.50 | - | - |
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 Smithdown 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 | Liverpool average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 58% | 52.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 61% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 50% | 55.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 474 |
| 2023/24 | 476 |
| 2024/25 | 488 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Smithdown Primary School compares
Smithdown Primary School ranked 80th of 107 primary schools in Liverpool for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 54% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50% | 5.3% | 54.2% | 484 | — |
| St Anne's Catholic Primary School | 64% | 4.2% | 56.7% | 206 | 0.3 miles |
| Kingsley Community School | 60% | 4.7% | 58.8% | 495 | 0.4 miles |
| St Hugh's Catholic Primary School | 19% | 4.6% | 75.1% | 187 | 0.5 miles |
| Kensington Primary School | 34% | 5.3% | 51.1% | 543 | 0.6 miles |
| Lawrence Community Primary School | 38% | 7.1% | 57.8% | 451 | 0.7 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
-
Graded inspection report27 January 2026
- 29 September 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 54.19%
- English as an additional language
- 86.5%
- Overall absence
- 5.29%
- Persistent absence
- 13.18%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Anne's Catholic Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Liverpool
-
Kingsley Community School0.4 miles
Primary · Liverpool
-
St Hugh's Catholic Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Liverpool
-
Kensington Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Liverpool
-
Lawrence Community Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Liverpool
Other schools in Liverpool
Smithdown Primary School ranks 142nd of the 176 ranked primary schools in Liverpool.
- Aintree Davenhill Primary School Primary
- All Saints' Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Anfield Road Primary School Primary
- Arnot St Mary CofE Primary School Primary
- Banks Road Primary School Primary
- Barlows Primary School Primary
- Bedford Primary School Primary
- Belle Vale Community Primary School Primary
- Bishop Martin Church of England Primary School, Woolton Primary
- Blacklow Brow School Primary
- Blackmoor Park Infants' School Primary
- Blackmoor Park Junior School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Smithdown Primary School teach?
- Smithdown Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Liverpool.
- Who is the headteacher of Smithdown Primary School?
- The headteacher of Smithdown Primary School is Mr Philip Horne, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Smithdown Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Smithdown 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 many pupils are at Smithdown Primary School?
- Smithdown Primary School has 484 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Smithdown Primary School full?
- Smithdown Primary School has capacity for 450 pupils and 484 on roll (108%), 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 Smithdown Primary School a faith school?
- No. Smithdown Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Smithdown Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Smithdown Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Smithdown Primary School'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 50% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Smithdown Primary School compare with other schools in Liverpool?
- Smithdown Primary School ranked 80th of 107 primary schools in Liverpool for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 54% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Smithdown Primary School's absence rate?
- Smithdown Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Smithdown Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Smithdown 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.