Guest, Sign inJoin
A−

Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School

PrimaryAges 2–11Voluntary aidedChurch of England

Warrington, WA5 1XE · Warrington local authority

Warrington’s School Grade A− better than 81% of towns in England

Its letter
83%
of England’s primaries have lower KS2 results
Getting in
12/12
first choices offered a place, 2026 (England: 93%)
How full
214 pupils
January 2026 census
Free school meals
39%
39 in 100 pupils eligible · outlined square = England’s schools (25)
The gist

What stands out about Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School

  • Its own letter, A−: Key Stage 2 results better than 83% of England’s primary schools
  • 75% meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 13 points above England’s schools
  • 39% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (more than England’s 25%)
  • Ofsted report card, March 2026: achievement expected standard, safeguarding met (shown, not graded)
  • Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026 (12 of 12)
  • Homes in its postcode sector (WA5 1) sold for a median £207,500; Warrington’s is £242,000

Results

DfE · Key Stage 2

Reading, writing and maths 75%

Met the expected standard, DfE’s 3-year average 2023–2025 · higher than 83% of England’s 14,979 graded primaries · Warrington avg 68%

0%20%40%60%80%100%England avg 61.6%Sankey Valley St James CofE Primary 75%

Each subject, 2025

Met the expected standard; the mark is England’s schools · average scaled score: reading 107, maths 108 (100 = the expected standard)

Reading86%
England’s schools 77%
Writing (teacher assessed)82%
England’s schools 73%
Maths96%
England’s schools 75%
Grammar, punctuation and spelling82%
England’s schools 74%
Reached the higher standard in all three11%
England’s schools 8% · Warrington 9% · 2025

England’s figures are of its graded mainstream state schools, each school counted once; grammar schools are included, which is why the right-hand tail is long. Small cohorts are suppressed.

Getting in

How hard is it to get a place at Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School?

Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026.

12
families put it first for September 2026
13
places offered
100%
of first choices offered a place (England’s primaries: 93%)
First choices and places, by year of entry
20192020202120222023202420252026
Families who put it firstPlaces offered
Red figures: first choices not offered a place

Years when some first choices missed out: 2023 (3), 2024 (1). The council runs the coordinated admissions; each school’s rules (siblings, distance, faith) decide who gets in. DfE doesn’t publish the furthest distance offered, so check the council’s admissions booklet for that. The school’s governing body sets the admissions rules. Apply through Warrington council’s coordinated admissions.

Demand for primary schools in Warrington, September 2026

Outline = places offered · green = families who put it first · striped = more first choices than places · the 10 most in demand

1.68 per place
55% got their first choice
1.50 per place
67% got their first choice
1.30 per place
77% got their first choice
1.23 per place
81% got their first choice
1.17 per place
85% got their first choice
1.17 per place
82% got their first choice
1.13 per place
85% got their first choice
1.11 per place
90% got their first choice
1.10 per place
90% got their first choice
Sankey Valley St James CofE Primary
0.92 per place
100% got their first choice

Warrington and Warrington, side by side

2023–2025

All 62 graded primaries in Warrington. Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually score lower, so a school above the crowd for its free school meals is doing better than its intake predicts. Warrington’s schools are coloured by their letter.

35%46%57%68%79%90%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%Pupils eligible for free school meals →KS2 expected standard →Sankey Valley St James CofE
ABCDElsewhere in WarringtonSankey Valley St James CofE Primary
Show as a table
SchoolLetterFree school mealsKS2 expected standard
Bruche AcademyA+18%98%
Evelyn Street Primary Academy and NurseryA+27%92%
Stretton St Matthew's CofE Primary SchoolA+9%89%
Chapelford Village Primary SchoolA+16%88%
Grappenhall Heys Community Primary SchoolA+7%87%
Statham Primary SchoolA+22%83%
Woolston CofE Aided Primary SchoolA19%82%
St Peter's Catholic Primary SchoolA11%80%
Great Sankey Primary SchoolA11%80%
Ravenbank Primary SchoolA9%79%
Barrow Hall Community Primary SchoolA6%78%
Alderman Bolton Primary SchoolA50%78%
Culcheth Community Primary SchoolA20%78%
Park Road Community Primary SchoolA9%77%
Penketh Primary SchoolA10%76%
Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary SchoolA−39%75%
St Helen's Church of England Primary SchoolA−20%75%
St Monica's Catholic Primary SchoolA−14%74%
Burtonwood Community Primary SchoolA−19%74%
Cherry Tree SchoolA−13%73%
Twiss Green Community Primary SchoolA−10%73%
Gorse Covert Primary SchoolA−25%73%
St Thomas' CofE Primary SchoolA−11%72%
St Joseph's Catholic Primary SchoolA−6%71%
Christ Church CofE Primary School PadgateB+25%70%
St Lewis Catholic Primary SchoolB+19%70%
Croft Primary SchoolB+10%70%
St Stephen's Catholic Primary SchoolB+43%69%
Stockton Heath Primary SchoolB+13%68%
St Margaret's Church of England Primary SchoolB+33%68%
Grappenhall St Wilfrid's CofE Primary SchoolB6%67%
St Oswald's Catholic Primary SchoolB22%66%
Callands Primary AcademyB23%66%
Cinnamon Brow Church of England Primary SchoolB41%66%
Thelwall Community Junior SchoolB13%65%
St Augustine's Catholic Primary SchoolB49%65%
St Bridget's Catholic Primary SchoolB56%65%
Beamont Primary SchoolB45%65%
Broomfields Junior SchoolB25%65%
Appleton Thorn Primary SchoolB13%65%
Dallam Community Primary SchoolB57%65%
Bewsey Lodge AcademyB53%65%
Glazebury Church of England Primary SchoolB−12%63%
Oughtrington Primary SchoolB−13%63%
Locking Stumps Community Primary SchoolB−35%63%
Penketh South Community Primary SchoolB−11%62%
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary SchoolC+19%60%
Newchurch Community Primary SchoolC+19%59%
St Benedict's Catholic Primary SchoolC+31%59%
Birchwood CofE Primary SchoolC+56%58%
St Paul of the Cross Catholic Primary SchoolC+28%58%
St Vincent's Catholic Primary SchoolC18%56%
Woolston Community Primary SchoolC22%55%
Bradshaw Primary SchoolC21%55%
Brook Acre Community Primary SchoolC57%55%
Winwick CofE Primary SchoolC11%54%
Oakwood Avenue Community Primary SchoolC44%54%
St Alban's Catholic Primary SchoolC−27%53%
Latchford St James CofE Primary SchoolC−29%49%
Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyC−29%49%
Westbrook Old Hall Primary SchoolD28%47%
Meadowside Community Primary and Nursery SchoolD−61%36%

Who goes here

DfE school census, January 2025

222 pupils. SEN support is extra help in school for a special educational need; an EHC plan is the council’s legal plan for pupils who need more.

SEN support
21.6%England 15.3%
EHC plan
2.7%England 3.6%
English as an additional language
28.8%England 18.8%
Free school meals in the last 6 years
35.2%England 26.2%

Girls and boys

Girls 46%Boys 54%
Its letter

Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School’s letter

Its own results against England’s schools, not the town’s School Grade.

Primary: KS2 reading, writing and maths A−Better than 83% of 15,230 schools
How school letters are worked out

Each school’s measure is compared with every graded school in England of the same phase: for primaries, the share of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (DfE’s three-year average); for secondaries, Attainment 8 and the share with grade 5 or above in English and maths, each turned into a z-score against England’s schools and averaged. The letter comes from the share of those schools it beats, in the same bands as every grade on the site. The same method gives U.S. schools their letters, against their own state.

A+ 95+A 85–94A− 75–84B+ 65–74B 55–64B− 45–54C+ 35–44C 25–34C− 15–24D 5–14D− 0–4

Graded: England’s open mainstream state schools with published results (grammar schools included, which select by test). Not graded: special schools, alternative provision, nurseries, 16–19 colleges, UTCs and studio schools, Welsh schools. Ofsted plays no part.

Ofsted

Ofsted inspections

Shown, not graded: Ofsted is never part of a letter or the School Grade.

Report card, inspection starting March 2026.

SafeguardingMet
AchievementExpected standard
Curriculum and teachingExpected standard
InclusionExpected standard
Attendance and behaviourExpected standard
Personal development and well-beingExpected standard
Leadership and governanceExpected standard
Early yearsNeeds attention

Before the report card: Ungraded inspection: School remains Good, June 2021.

The full reports on Ofsted ↗

Living nearby

Living near Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School

For families thinking of moving: what homes cost around the school, and the other schools close by.

Home prices in WA5 1, the school’s postcode sector

Warrington property prices →
£207,500
median sale, 464 sales in 36 months · Warrington £242,000

Median sale price each year, 2010 to 2025

£50K£100K£150K£200K£250K£300K2010201520202025WA5 1Warrington
WA5 1Warrington

By type, the 36 months to August 2026

Detached
£306K
Semi-detached
£232K
Terraced
£161K
Flat
£105K
WA5 1Warrington

Homes in WA5 1 sell for a little under Warrington’s typical price. HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales. Catchments aren’t published, so the postcode sector stands in for “around the school”.

Schools within 1.6 miles

20 state schools
0.5 mi1 mi1.5 miNAC+C−A−CA−B+A+AABAA+DB−BBA−BA+A−Sankey Valley St James Chur…
ABCDNo letterPrimarySecondary / all-through

Warrington, WA5 1XE

Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School: common questions

Is Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School a good school?

By its published results, well above average: its Key Stage 2 results are better than 83% of England’s primary schools (its letter is A−), with 75% of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% for England’s schools. Ofsted: a report card in March 2026.

How hard is it to get into Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School?

For September 2026, 12 families put Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School first and all of them were offered a place; 13 places were offered in all.

What is Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School’s Ofsted rating?

Its latest inspection (March 2026) gave a report card: achievement expected standard, safeguarding met. Ofsted stopped giving one-word overall grades in September 2024.

How much do houses cost near Sankey Valley St James Church of England Primary School?

Homes in its postcode sector, WA5 1, sold for a median £207,500 over the 36 months to August 2026 (464 sales).

Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Also: DfE Key Stage 4 performance, schools data (2023/24 and 2024/25 final, 2025/26 provisional) and Key Stage 2 performance tables 2024/25 by subject; DfE school census, January 2025; DfE school-level applications and offers, September 2019 to 2026 entry; HM Land Registry Price Paid by postcode sector, 2010 to August 2026.

A school’s letter is our own summary of its published results against England’s schools of the same phase; Warrington’s School Grade is a separate grade, built from the results of the schools in and around the town against other towns. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.