The Arches Community Primary School
Saughall Road, Blacon, Chester, CH1 5EZ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Michelle Ashfield
- Constituency
- Chester North and Neston
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 180
- URN
- 134897
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01244667660
About this school
The Arches Community Primary School is a community primary school in Chester. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 180 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
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 | 34 | 31 | 31 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 53% | 61% | 65% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 16% | 6% |
| Expected standard in reading | 62% | 87% | 77% |
| Expected standard in maths | 76% | 84% | 74% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 74% | 84% | 84% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.50 | - | - |
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 The Arches Community 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 | Cheshire West and Chester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53% | 57.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 61% | 57.9% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 65% | 59.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 203 |
| 2023/24 | 192 |
| 2024/25 | 186 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Arches Community Primary School compares
The Arches Community Primary School ranked 50th of 116 primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 53% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 65% | 6.6% | 51.6% | 180 | — |
| Highfield Community Primary School | 50% | 4.8% | 27.7% | 218 | 0.2 miles |
| St Theresa's Catholic Primary School | 48% | 5.3% | 36.1% | 179 | 0.3 miles |
| J H Godwin Primary School | 32% | 6.9% | 38.7% | 161 | 0.5 miles |
| Dee Point Primary School | 40% | 6.3% | 46.3% | 485 | 0.6 miles |
| Chester Blue Coat Church of England Primary School | 61% | 6.1% | 17.2% | 369 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 51.61%
- English as an additional language
- 10.8%
- Overall absence
- 6.58%
- Persistent absence
- 19.76%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Highfield Community Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Chester
-
St Theresa's Catholic Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Chester
-
J H Godwin Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Chester
-
Dee Point Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Chester
-
Chester Blue Coat Church of England Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Chester
Other schools in Chester
The Arches Community Primary School ranks 15th of the 34 ranked primary schools in Chester.
- Acresfield Academy Primary
- Ashton Hayes Primary School Primary
- Barrow CofE Primary School Primary
- Barrow CofE Primary School Primary
- Belgrave Primary School Primary
- Boughton Heath Academy Primary
- Capenhurst CofE Primary School Primary
- Cherry Grove Primary School Primary
- Chester Blue Coat Church of England Primary School Primary
- Christleton Primary School Primary
- Clutton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Dee Point Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Arches Community Primary School teach?
- The Arches Community Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Chester.
- Who is the headteacher of The Arches Community Primary School?
- The headteacher of The Arches Community Primary School is Mrs Michelle Ashfield, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Arches Community Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Arches Community 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 The Arches Community Primary School?
- The Arches Community Primary School has 180 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is The Arches Community Primary School full?
- The Arches Community Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 180 on roll (86%), 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 The Arches Community Primary School a faith school?
- No. The Arches Community Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does The Arches Community Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records The Arches Community Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have The Arches Community Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 53% in 2022/23 and 65% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Arches Community Primary School rank locally?
- The Arches Community Primary School ranked 50th of 116 primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 53% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Arches Community Primary School's absence rate?
- The Arches Community Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Arches Community Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Arches Community 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 1 July 2026.