Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School
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Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School is a Church of England school (voluntary controlled) in Oxford for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 459 pupils and room for 480. About 28 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. We give it 25 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 33% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Bartholomew Road, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 3QH01865 778484churchcowley.comMr Stephen Dew headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 20 September 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
56 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 56 | 54 | 60 | 57 | 55 | 59 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 59% | 56% | 57% | 53% | 69% | 66% | 63% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 0% | 7% | 5% | 11% | 7% | 10% | 8% |
| Reading scoreReading average scaled score | 103.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 | 101.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 | 106.1 | 105.6 |
| Maths scoreMaths average scaled score | 104.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 | 104.4 | 104.6 |
| Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score | 103.0 | 102.0 | 107.0 | 105.0 | 106.0 | 103.0 | 104.8 | 105.2 |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 73% | 74% | 67% | 56% | 80% | 73% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 73% | 76% | 87% | 79% | 75% | 85% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 70% | 69% | 70% | 81% | 73% | 71% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | – | +1.1 | -2.4 | +2.5 | +0.7 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | – | +2.3 | +0.1 | +2.6 | +2.6 | – | – |
| Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged | 43% | 42% | 44% | 50% | 64% | 62% | – | – |
| Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged | 69% | 67% | 61% | 55% | 74% | 68% | – | – |
There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 4 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At the end of primary school, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have grown by 6% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
The last child to get a place lived 0.7 miles away in 2026, 1.1 miles away in 2024. Those cut-offs are for children living outside the catchment area; every child inside it got a place. Brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups are placed first. Type in your postcode to see how far away you are.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child in the catchment area who applied got a place. Outside the catchment, the last place went to a child living 0.7 miles away. 70 families put it down as their first choice and 60 of them got in (86%).
| Entry | Places | Put it first | Applied at all | Got a place | First choices who got in | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | 60 | 70 | 126 | 60 | 86% | 0.7 miles (distance, outside the catchment area) | LA |
| 2025 Primary | 60 | 57 | 138 | 58 | 100% | – all offered | LA |
| 2024 Primary | 60 | 62 | 137 | 60 | 97% | 1.1 miles (distance, outside the catchment area) | LA |
| 2023 Primary | 60 | 49 | 118 | 53 | 100% | – all offered | LA |
The distances are the council's own, usually measured in a straight line from home to the school gate. If the distance is getting shorter each year, the school is getting harder to get into. See which councils we have this data for.
What a home within 0.9 miles of the school costs
Every home sold within that distance of the school (the typical cut-off over the last three years), of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 27.8 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 27.6 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (34), emotional and mental health (19), Autistic spectrum disorder (13), Moderate learning difficulty (10), Hearing impairment (5), Physical disability (4).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 459 | 469 | 475 | 461 | 457 | 439 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 24% | 26% | 27% | 27% | 26% | 27% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 55% | 48% | 46% | 49% | 48% | 48% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 18% | 18% | 19% | 19% | 17% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.3% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 7.7% | 7.9% | 8.5% | 7.3% | 3.2% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.9% | 5.5% | 6.1% | 5.5% | 2.5% | 3.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.8% | 2.5% | 2.4% | 1.7% | 0.8% | 1.4% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 22.4% | 26.2% | 32.0% | 24.0% | 7.0% | 10.4% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 1.1 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 2.6 | 2.5 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, Littlemore | Academy | 550 m | 242 | Good 2023 | 48 | Compare |
| Our Lady's Roman Catholic Primary School | Academy | 620 m | 318 | Good 2022 | 84 | Compare |
| St Christopher's Church of England School, Cowley | Academy | 930 m | 314 | Good 2024 | 16 | Compare |
| Orchard Meadow Primary School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 209 | Good 2022 | 11 | Compare |
| John Henry Newman Academy | Academy | 0.7 miles | 392 | Good 2024 | 31 | Compare |
| Tyndale Community School | Free school | 0.8 miles | 280 | Not inspected | 33 | Compare |
| St Francis Church of England Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 211 | Good 2021 | 16 | Compare |
| Rose Hill Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 268 | No overall grade 2025 | 2 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School with the 49 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 25 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 25% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 14 to 43. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 25% | in line | -0.07 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 56 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | in line | +0.01 | Ofsted grade, 3.0 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | above | +0.08 | DfE progress measure; 56 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.10 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | well below | -0.15 | 2024/25; 371 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | below | -0.09 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 56 pupils |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School a good school?
The figures are weak. Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School scores 25 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 33% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 14 to 43, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School good at its last full inspection on 20 September 2023.
How good are Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 59% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 5% went further and reached the higher level.
How many pupils does Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School have?
459 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 480 places, so it is 96% full.
Is Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School oversubscribed, and how far away can you live?
Yes. For September 2026 the last place went to a child living 0.7 miles away. 70 families put it down as their first choice and 60 of them got in. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups come before distance, so the cut-off moves every year.
What is attendance like at Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School?
Pupils were in school 92.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 22% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Church Cowley St James Church of England Primary School?
The average class had 28.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 8% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Bartholomew Road, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 3QH
- Telephone
- 01865 778484
- Website
- www.churchcowley.com
- Headteacher
- Mr Stephen Dew
- Type of school
- Church of England school (voluntary controlled) (Voluntary controlled school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Oxford
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Ward
- Cowley
- Constituency
- Oxford East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 123139 · LAESTAB 9313210 · UKPRN 10079370
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2024/25.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Oxfordshire council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.