St James' Church of England Primary School

Primary · Academy converter · Ages 4–11 · Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Last distance offered · Reception 2026

Every applicant was offered a place

From Gloucestershire County Council · offers on 16 April 2026

2012–2025 trend 🔒

Nearby schools' earlier years 🔒

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St James' Church of England Primary School is a primary school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire for ages 4–11 (academy converter). Its latest Ofsted outcome is Good, from the inspection on 11 October 2023. Gloucestershire has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2012 to 2026 entry.

St James' Church of England Primary School 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 7 earlier figures.

What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment

What the figures show

Every applicant was offered a Reception place in 2026, as happened at 132 of the 223 other Gloucestershire primary schools with a published Reception 2026 outcome.
Places ran out, with a last distance published, in 13 of the 14 earlier Reception years, and that last distance swung sharply between some years.
Reception 2026 had 49 first-choice applications for 56 offers; every first-choice family was offered a place, and 7 offers went to families who ranked it second or lower.
In 2024/25, 59% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (England 62%), and 11% reached the higher standard (England 8%).

Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Gloucestershire schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.

Key facts

Address: Merestones Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2RS
Type: Academy converter
Phase: Primary
Ages: 4–11
Religious character: Church of England
Council: Gloucestershire
Pupils on roll: 408 January 2026 school census
Free school meals: 6.9% of pupils eligible
Pupils per teacher: 23.3

Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026

Ofsted

Good Inspected 11 October 2023

Strengths

“Relationships are warm and welcoming.”
“The school has thoughtfully weaved this vision through its ambitious curriculum.”
“Pupils have strong attitudes to their learning.”

To improve

“Even so, work in some curriculum areas is newer than others.”
“The school identified that pupils’ spelling, handwriting and stamina needed work following the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“This was because pupils did not have as much practice as they normally would have.”

Safeguarding: Effective

Quoted from the Ofsted report published 17 November 2023 (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)	59%	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: 49 first-preference applications, 56 offers in total, 49 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 Gloucestershire.

Warden Hill Primary School 0.4 mi Good Last distance published
Greatfield Park Primary School 0.7 mi Not judged Last distance published
Leckhampton Church of England Primary School 0.8 mi Good Last distance published
Naunton Park Primary School 0.8 mi Not judged Last distance published
Lakeside Primary School 1.0 mi Standards maintained Last distance published
Christ Church CofE Primary School 1.0 mi Outstanding Last distance published
Benhall Infant School 1.1 mi Good Last distance published
St Mark's Church of England Junior School 1.2 mi School remains Good