St James' Catholic Primary School Orrell
Primary · Voluntary aided school · Ages 4–11 · Wigan
Last distance offered · Reception 2026
Every applicant was offered a place
From Wigan Council · offers on 16 April 2026
2011–2025 trend 🔒
Nearby schools' earlier years 🔒
St James' Catholic Primary School Orrell is a primary school in Wigan for ages 4–11 (voluntary aided school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is School remains Good, from the inspection on 17 February 2022. Wigan has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2011 to 2026 entry.
St James' Catholic Primary School Orrell catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Reception 2026 | Every applicant was offered a place |
| Reception 2025 | 🔒 With a pass |
| Reception 2024 | 🔒 With a pass |
| Reception 2023 | 🔒 With a pass |
| Reception 2022 | 🔒 With a pass |
| Reception 2021 | 🔒 With a pass |
| Reception 2020 | 🔒 With a pass |
| Reception 2019 | 🔒 With a pass |
And 8 earlier figures.
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- 9.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals; the middle figure across the 8 nearest primary schools in Wigan is 23.4%.
- Reception 2026 had 54 first-choice applications for 46 offers; 46 offers went to first-choice families, and 8 first-choice families (15%) were not offered a place.
- In Reception 2026, 15 of the 113 applications (13%) came from families living outside Wigan, and 6 offers went to them.
- In 2024/25, 80% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (England 62%), and 20% reached the higher standard (England 8%).
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Wigan schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- St James Road, Orrell, Wigan, WN5 7AA
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 4–11
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Council
- Wigan
- Pupils on roll
- 347 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 9.5% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 21.8
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
School remains Good Inspected 17 February 2022
Strengths
- “Pupils enter school calmly each day.”
- “They are proud to belong to a welcoming school community.”
- “They form positive relationships with an established staff team.”
To improve
- “However, occasionally some pupils do not attain as well as they should in some curriculum areas because of gaps in their knowledge that are not identified well enough.”
- “Sometimes, teachers do not assess whether pupils have secured the necessary knowledge they need.”
- “However, sometimes these checks do not focus well enough on how teachers are helping pupils to achieve all that they should.”
Safeguarding: met
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 10 September 2026 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| Key stage 2 · reading, writing and maths, expected standard (2024/25) | 80% | 62% |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Reception entry: 54 first-preference applications, 46 offers in total, 46 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby primary schools
Straight-line distance, in Wigan.
- Orrell Newfold Community Primary School 0.1 mi Outstanding Last distance published
- Orrell Holgate Academy 0.4 mi Improved significantly Last distance published
- Orrell Lamberhead Green Academy 1.4 mi Not judged Last distance published
- St John's CofE Primary School 1.4 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Highfield St Matthew's Church of England Primary School 1.8 mi Good Last distance published
- Winstanley Community Primary School 1.8 mi School remains Outstanding Last distance published
- St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School Wigan 1.9 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- St Aidan's Catholic Primary School, Wigan 1.9 mi Not judged Last distance published