Christ Church CofE Primary School, Pennington

Christ Church CofE Primary School, Pennington at a glance

Located in Leigh, Wigan, Christ Church CofE Primary School, Pennington is a primary school, classified by the DfE as a voluntary aided school with a Church of England religious character. The school educates roughly 208 pupils aged 4 to 11. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent Key Stage 2 SATs, 43% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — well below the national average of 61%. That is down 14.0 percentage points in the proportion reaching the expected standard on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 106 in reading and 103 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). Competition for places is real here - 84% of first-choice applicants were offered a Reception place for September 2026 (31 first choices for 30 places). The council's own allocation figures show the last child offered a place for 2026 lived 0.19 miles away in a straight line — that distance is not a fixed catchment and moves each year. Overall pupil absence was 5.9%. There are about 21.7 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 40% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.