St James' Church of England Primary School

School overview

St James' Church of England Primary School is a primary school serving Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Church of England religious character. It has 232 pupils aged 3 to 11 on roll. In the most recent Key Stage 2 SATs, 68% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — above the national average of 61%. That marks an improvement of 11.0 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 top 43% of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 105 in reading and 105 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 7% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). Competition for places is real here - 91% of first-choice applicants were offered a Reception place for September 2026 (33 first choices for 30 places). The council's own allocation figures show the last child offered a place for 2026 lived 0.43 miles away in a straight line — that distance is not a fixed catchment and moves each year. Overall pupil absence was 4.4%. There are about 19.1 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 57% 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. St James' Church of England Primary School does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. 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.