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Barnston Primary School

PrimaryAges 4–11Community

Heswall, CH60 1XW · Wirral local authority

Heswall’s School Grade B+ better than 74% of towns in England

Its letter
85%
of England’s primaries have lower KS2 results
Getting in
40/43
first choices offered a place, 2026 (England: 93%)
How full
299 pupils
95% of its 315 places
Free school meals
2%
2 in 100 pupils eligible · outlined square = England’s schools (25)
The gist

What stands out about Barnston Primary School

  • Its own letter, A: Key Stage 2 results better than 85% of England’s primary schools
  • 76% meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 14 points above England’s schools
  • 2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (fewer than England’s 25%)
  • Ofsted report card, March 2026: achievement expected standard, safeguarding met (shown, not graded)
  • 93% of families who put it first got a place for September 2026 (40 of 43)
  • Homes in its postcode sector (CH60 1) sold for a median £425,000; Heswall’s is £302,500

Results

DfE · Key Stage 2

Reading, writing and maths 76%

Met the expected standard, DfE’s 3-year average 2023–2025 · higher than 85% of England’s 14,979 graded primaries · Wirral avg 56%

0%20%40%60%80%100%England avg 61.6%Barnston Primary 76%

Each subject, 2025

Met the expected standard; the mark is England’s schools · average scaled score: reading 109, maths 107 (100 = the expected standard)

Reading89%
England’s schools 77%
Writing (teacher assessed)95%
England’s schools 73%
Maths87%
England’s schools 75%
Grammar, punctuation and spelling87%
England’s schools 74%
Reached the higher standard in all three29%
England’s schools 8% · Wirral 6% · 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 Barnston Primary School?

93% of the families who put it first got a place for September 2026.

43
families put it first for September 2026
45
places offered
93%
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: 2019 (1), 2020 (4), 2021 (9), 2022 (6), 2023 (7), 2026 (3). 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.

Demand for primary schools in Heswall, September 2026

Outline = places offered · green = families who put it first · striped = more first choices than places

1.47 per place
68% got their first choice
1.23 per place
76% got their first choice
1.03 per place
90% got their first choice
1.03 per place
90% got their first choice
Barnston Primary
0.96 per place
93% got their first choice
0.83 per place
100% got their first choice
0.80 per place
100% got their first choice
0.80 per place
100% got their first choice

Heswall and Wirral, side by side

2023–2025

All 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. Heswall’s schools are coloured by their letter.

25%37%49%61%73%85%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%Pupils eligible for free school meals →KS2 expected standard →Barnston
ABCDElsewhere in WirralBarnston Primary
Show as a table
SchoolLetterFree school mealsKS2 expected standard
Thornton Hough Primary SchoolA+6%97%
Thurstaston Dawpool CofE Primary SchoolA+3%83%
Our Lady of Pity Catholic Primary and Nursery SchoolA10%82%
Poulton Lancelyn Primary SchoolA4%82%
West Kirby St Bridget's CofE Primary SchoolA4%81%
West Kirby Primary SchoolA14%80%
Thingwall Primary SchoolA9%77%
Barnston Primary SchoolA2%76%
Mersey Park Primary SchoolA−63%75%
Gayton Primary SchoolA−3%75%
Great Meols Primary SchoolA−5%73%
Heswall St Peter's CofE Primary SchoolA−4%72%
Townfield Primary SchoolA−17%71%
St George's Primary SchoolB+17%69%
Greasby Junior SchoolB+11%69%
Hoylake Holy Trinity CofE Primary SchoolB+17%68%
Holy Cross Catholic Primary SchoolB82%67%
Brookdale Primary SchoolB14%67%
Liscard Primary SchoolB37%66%
Christ The King Catholic Primary SchoolB17%66%
Birkenhead High School AcademyB20%66%
Brackenwood Junior SchoolB20%66%
Heswall Primary SchoolB19%65%
Church Drive Primary SchoolB−31%64%
Irby Primary SchoolB−4%64%
Moreton Christ Church CofE Primary SchoolC+19%60%
Mendell Primary SchoolC+52%60%
SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyC+18%60%
Bidston Avenue Primary SchoolC+46%60%
Ladymount Catholic Primary SchoolC+7%59%
St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary SchoolC+40%59%
Oxton St Saviour's CofE Primary SchoolC+11%59%
Higher Bebington Junior SchoolC+14%58%
Raeburn Primary SchoolC+10%58%
Prenton Primary SchoolC17%57%
Mount Primary SchoolC18%57%
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School UptonC25%57%
Egremont Primary SchoolC65%57%
Stanton Road Primary SchoolC19%57%
St John's Catholic Junior SchoolC29%56%
Heygarth Primary SchoolC27%56%
Lingham Primary SchoolC43%55%
St Andrew's CofE Primary SchoolC13%55%
St Peter's Catholic Primary SchoolC73%54%
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary SchoolC23%54%
St Anne's Catholic Primary SchoolC53%54%
Greenleas Primary SchoolC−19%53%
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, BirkenheadC−18%53%
Park Primary SchoolC−57%52%
The Priory Parish CofE Primary SchoolC−70%51%
Pensby Primary SchoolC−16%51%
St Alban's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyC−41%51%
Somerville Primary SchoolC−62%50%
St Paul's Catholic Primary SchoolC−66%50%
Co-op Academy WoodsleeC−47%50%
New Brighton Primary SchoolC−28%49%
Woodlands Primary SchoolC−61%48%
Grove Street Primary SchoolC−59%48%
Leasowe Primary SchoolC−74%48%
Black Horse Hill Junior SchoolC−34%48%
Devonshire Park Primary SchoolD44%46%
Riverside Primary SchoolD76%45%
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, WallaseyD61%45%
Holy Spirit Catholic and Church of England Primary SchoolD53%44%
Bedford Drive Primary SchoolD49%41%
Birkenhead Christ Church CofE Primary SchoolD57%40%
Co-op Academy HillsideD48%40%
Manor Primary SchoolD68%39%
Fender Primary SchoolD−61%38%
Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary SchoolD−39%38%
Eastway Primary SchoolD−50%37%
Castleway Primary SchoolD−63%37%
Co-op Academy PortlandD−43%35%
Kingsway Primary SchoolD−70%32%
St Werburgh's Catholic Primary SchoolD−49%32%
Rock Ferry Primary SchoolD−67%31%
Millfields Church of England (Controlled) Primary SchoolD−67%30%
Cathcart Street Primary SchoolD−82%27%
Bidston Village CofE (Controlled) Primary SchoolD−65%27%

Who goes here

DfE school census, January 2025

302 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
6.3%England 15.3%
EHC plan
1%England 3.6%
English as an additional language
2%England 18.8%
Free school meals in the last 6 years
2.7%England 26.2%

Girls and boys

Girls 50%Boys 50%
Its letter

Barnston Primary School’s letter

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

Primary: KS2 reading, writing and maths ABetter than 85% 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 yearsExpected standard

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

The full reports on Ofsted ↗

Living nearby

Living near Barnston Primary School

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

Home prices in CH60 1, the school’s postcode sector

Heswall property prices →
£425,000
median sale, 70 sales in 36 months · Heswall £302,500

Median sale price each year, 2010 to 2025

£150K£200K£250K£300K£350K£400K£450K2010201520202025CH60 1Heswall
CH60 1Heswall

By type, the 36 months to August 2026

Detached
£465K
Semi-detached
£338K
Flat
£139K
CH60 1Heswall

Homes in CH60 1 sell for well over Heswall’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

5 state schools
0.5 mi1 mi1.5 miNA+A−C−A−BABarnston Primary School
ABCDNo letterPrimarySecondary / all-through

Heswall, CH60 1XW

Barnston Primary School: common questions

Is Barnston Primary School a good school?

By its published results, well above average: its Key Stage 2 results are better than 85% of England’s primary schools (its letter is A), with 76% 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 Barnston Primary School?

For September 2026, 43 families put Barnston Primary School first and 40 of them were offered a place; 45 places were offered in all.

What is Barnston 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 Barnston Primary School?

Homes in its postcode sector, CH60 1, sold for a median £425,000 over the 36 months to August 2026 (70 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; Heswall’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.