Cathcart Street Primary School
Birkenhead, CH41 3JY · Wirral local authority
Birkenhead’s School Grade C better than 26% of towns in England
What stands out about Cathcart Street Primary School
- Its own letter, D−: Key Stage 2 results near the bottom of England’s primary schools (better than 1%)
- 27% meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 35 points below England’s schools
- 82% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (more than England’s 25%)
- Ofsted report card, July 2026: achievement needs attention, safeguarding met (shown, not graded)
- Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026 (26 of 26)
- Homes in its postcode sector (CH41 3) sold for a median £120,000; Birkenhead’s is £175,000
Results
DfE · Key Stage 2Reading, writing and maths 27%
Met the expected standard, DfE’s 3-year average 2023–2025 · higher than 1% of England’s 14,979 graded primaries · Wirral avg 56%
Each subject, 2025
Met the expected standard; the mark is England’s schools · average scaled score: reading 100, maths 95 (100 = the expected standard)
Disadvantaged pupils, 2025
Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths: the 24 disadvantaged pupils and the rest, beside England’s schools
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.
How hard is it to get a place at Cathcart Street Primary School?
Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026.
In every year shown, every family who put it first was offered a place. 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. Wirral council sets the admissions rules. Apply through Wirral council’s coordinated admissions.
Outline = places offered · green = families who put it first · striped = more first choices than places · the 10 most in demand
100% got their first choice
Birkenhead and Wirral, side by side
2023–2025All 79 graded primaries in Wirral. 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. Birkenhead’s schools are coloured by their letter.
Show as a table
| School | Letter | Free school meals | KS2 expected standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton Hough Primary School | A+ | 6% | 97% |
| Thurstaston Dawpool CofE Primary School | A+ | 3% | 83% |
| Our Lady of Pity Catholic Primary and Nursery School | A | 10% | 82% |
| Poulton Lancelyn Primary School | A | 4% | 82% |
| West Kirby St Bridget's CofE Primary School | A | 4% | 81% |
| West Kirby Primary School | A | 14% | 80% |
| Thingwall Primary School | A | 9% | 77% |
| Barnston Primary School | A | 2% | 76% |
| Mersey Park Primary School | A− | 63% | 75% |
| Gayton Primary School | A− | 3% | 75% |
| Great Meols Primary School | A− | 5% | 73% |
| Heswall St Peter's CofE Primary School | A− | 4% | 72% |
| Townfield Primary School | A− | 17% | 71% |
| St George's Primary School | B+ | 17% | 69% |
| Greasby Junior School | B+ | 11% | 69% |
| Hoylake Holy Trinity CofE Primary School | B+ | 17% | 68% |
| Holy Cross Catholic Primary School | B | 82% | 67% |
| Brookdale Primary School | B | 14% | 67% |
| Liscard Primary School | B | 37% | 66% |
| Christ The King Catholic Primary School | B | 17% | 66% |
| Birkenhead High School Academy | B | 20% | 66% |
| Brackenwood Junior School | B | 20% | 66% |
| Heswall Primary School | B | 19% | 65% |
| Church Drive Primary School | B− | 31% | 64% |
| Irby Primary School | B− | 4% | 64% |
| Moreton Christ Church CofE Primary School | C+ | 19% | 60% |
| Mendell Primary School | C+ | 52% | 60% |
| SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | C+ | 18% | 60% |
| Bidston Avenue Primary School | C+ | 46% | 60% |
| Ladymount Catholic Primary School | C+ | 7% | 59% |
| St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School | C+ | 40% | 59% |
| Oxton St Saviour's CofE Primary School | C+ | 11% | 59% |
| Higher Bebington Junior School | C+ | 14% | 58% |
| Raeburn Primary School | C+ | 10% | 58% |
| Prenton Primary School | C | 17% | 57% |
| Mount Primary School | C | 18% | 57% |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Upton | C | 25% | 57% |
| Egremont Primary School | C | 65% | 57% |
| Stanton Road Primary School | C | 19% | 57% |
| St John's Catholic Junior School | C | 29% | 56% |
| Heygarth Primary School | C | 27% | 56% |
| Lingham Primary School | C | 43% | 55% |
| St Andrew's CofE Primary School | C | 13% | 55% |
| St Peter's Catholic Primary School | C | 73% | 54% |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School | C | 23% | 54% |
| St Anne's Catholic Primary School | C | 53% | 54% |
| Greenleas Primary School | C− | 19% | 53% |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Birkenhead | C− | 18% | 53% |
| Park Primary School | C− | 57% | 52% |
| The Priory Parish CofE Primary School | C− | 70% | 51% |
| Pensby Primary School | C− | 16% | 51% |
| St Alban's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | C− | 41% | 51% |
| Somerville Primary School | C− | 62% | 50% |
| St Paul's Catholic Primary School | C− | 66% | 50% |
| Co-op Academy Woodslee | C− | 47% | 50% |
| New Brighton Primary School | C− | 28% | 49% |
| Woodlands Primary School | C− | 61% | 48% |
| Grove Street Primary School | C− | 59% | 48% |
| Leasowe Primary School | C− | 74% | 48% |
| Black Horse Hill Junior School | C− | 34% | 48% |
| Devonshire Park Primary School | D | 44% | 46% |
| Riverside Primary School | D | 76% | 45% |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wallasey | D | 61% | 45% |
| Holy Spirit Catholic and Church of England Primary School | D | 53% | 44% |
| Bedford Drive Primary School | D | 49% | 41% |
| Birkenhead Christ Church CofE Primary School | D | 57% | 40% |
| Co-op Academy Hillside | D | 48% | 40% |
| Manor Primary School | D | 68% | 39% |
| Fender Primary School | D− | 61% | 38% |
| Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary School | D− | 39% | 38% |
| Eastway Primary School | D− | 50% | 37% |
| Castleway Primary School | D− | 63% | 37% |
| Co-op Academy Portland | D− | 43% | 35% |
| Kingsway Primary School | D− | 70% | 32% |
| St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School | D− | 49% | 32% |
| Rock Ferry Primary School | D− | 67% | 31% |
| Millfields Church of England (Controlled) Primary School | D− | 67% | 30% |
| Cathcart Street Primary School | D− | 82% | 27% |
| Bidston Village CofE (Controlled) Primary School | D− | 65% | 27% |
Who goes here
DfE school census, January 2025224 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.
Girls and boys
Cathcart Street Primary School’s letter
Its own results against England’s schools, not the town’s School Grade.
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.
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 inspections
Shown, not graded: Ofsted is never part of a letter or the School Grade.
Report card, inspection starting July 2026.
Before the report card: Graded inspection: Requires improvement, March 2024.
Living near Cathcart Street Primary School
For families thinking of moving: what homes cost around the school, and the other schools close by.
Home prices in CH41 3, the school’s postcode sector
Birkenhead property prices →Median sale price each year, 2010 to 2025
By type, the 36 months to August 2026
Homes in CH41 3 sell for well under Birkenhead’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
22 state schoolsLocation
Directions ↗Birkenhead, CH41 3JY
Cathcart Street Primary School: common questions
Is Cathcart Street Primary School a good school?
By its published results, well below average: its Key Stage 2 results are better than 1% of England’s primary schools (its letter is D−), with 27% of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% for England’s schools. Ofsted: a report card in July 2026.
How hard is it to get into Cathcart Street Primary School?
For September 2026, 26 families put Cathcart Street Primary School first and all of them were offered a place; 29 places were offered in all.
What is Cathcart Street Primary School’s Ofsted rating?
Its latest inspection (July 2026) gave a report card: achievement needs attention, safeguarding met. Ofsted stopped giving one-word overall grades in September 2024.
How much do houses cost near Cathcart Street Primary School?
Homes in its postcode sector, CH41 3, sold for a median £120,000 over the 36 months to August 2026 (10 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; Birkenhead’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.