St Martin's Academy Chester
91 Hoole Road, Chester, CH2 3NG
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- NORTH WEST ACADEMIES TRUST LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Ms Wenda Smith
- Sponsor
- North West Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Chester North and Neston
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 182
- Pupils on roll
- 177
- URN
- 139377
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01244566166
About this school
St Martin's Academy Chester is a primary academy in Chester. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 177 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Martin's Academy Chester, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Early years
- Outstanding
- 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 | 21 | 25 | 25 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 71% | 84% | 96% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 10% | 20% | 32% |
| Expected standard in reading | 76% | 84% | 100% |
| Expected standard in maths | 86% | 92% | 100% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 90% | 96% | 96% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 108.0 | 112.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 108.0 | 111.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -5.20 | - | - |
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 Martin's Academy Chester 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 | 71% | 57.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 84% | 57.9% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 96% | 59.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 172 |
| 2023/24 | 176 |
| 2024/25 | 174 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Martin's Academy Chester compares
St Martin's Academy Chester ranked 1st of 116 primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 99% 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 | 96% | 3% | 6.3% | 177 | — |
| Hoole Church of England Primary School | — | — | — | 395 | 0.3 miles |
| Newton Primary School | 53% | 3.8% | 13% | 369 | 0.4 miles |
| St Werburgh's and St Columba's Catholic Primary School | 84% | 4.1% | 10.6% | 307 | 0.4 miles |
| Cherry Grove Primary School | 61% | 4.2% | 13% | 274 | 0.7 miles |
| Mill View Primary School | 90% | 3.4% | 7.6% | 242 | 0.8 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)
- 6.32%
- English as an additional language
- 12.1%
- Overall absence
- 2.95%
- Persistent absence
- 2%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hoole Church of England Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Chester
-
Newton Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Chester
-
St Werburgh's and St Columba's Catholic Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Chester
-
Cherry Grove Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Chester
-
Mill View Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Chester
Other schools in Chester
St Martin's Academy Chester ranks 1st 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 ages does St Martin's Academy Chester teach?
- St Martin's Academy Chester teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Chester.
- Who is the headteacher of St Martin's Academy Chester?
- The headteacher of St Martin's Academy Chester is Ms Wenda Smith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Martin's Academy Chester been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Martin's Academy Chester, 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 Martin's Academy Chester?
- St Martin's Academy Chester has 177 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Martin's Academy Chester full?
- St Martin's Academy Chester has capacity for 182 pupils and 177 on roll (97%), 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 St Martin's Academy Chester a faith school?
- No. St Martin's Academy Chester has no designated religious character.
- Does St Martin's Academy Chester have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Martin's Academy Chester as having no nursery classes.
- Is St Martin's Academy Chester part of an academy trust?
- St Martin's Academy Chester is part of NORTH WEST ACADEMIES TRUST LIMITED. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Martin's Academy Chester's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 71% in 2022/23 and 96% 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 Martin's Academy Chester compare with other schools in Cheshire West and Chester?
- St Martin's Academy Chester ranked 1st of 116 primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 99% 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 St Martin's Academy Chester's absence rate?
- St Martin's Academy Chester's overall absence rate is 3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Martin's Academy Chester's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Martin's Academy Chester'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.