Royal Cross Primary School
Royal Cross Primary School is a council special school in Preston for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 34 pupils and room for 42. About 50 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England.
Elswick Road, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, PR2 1NT01772 729705royalcross.lancs.sch.ukMrs Sofia Parveen headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Results
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
6 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | – | – | – | – | – | 61% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | – | – | – | – | – | 8% | 8% |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 0% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 0% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 0% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
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.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Lancashire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with hearing impairment.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Lancashire with hearing impairment provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Hearing impairment (27), language and communications needs (3), Multi-sensory impairment (2), Moderate learning difficulty (1), Severe learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 34 | 31 | 26 | 24 | 26 | 27 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 50% | 52% | 50% | 54% | 65% | 56% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 29% | 19% | 19% | 25% | 19% | 26% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.0% 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 | 8.0% | 8.3% | 8.7% | 8.9% | 15.8% | 8.6% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 7.2% | 7.8% | 8.3% | 8.5% | 15.7% | 7.0% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 1.6% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 35.3% | 39.1% | 31.8% | 36.4% | 63.6% | 36.8% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| 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 special 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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lea Community Primary School | Council | 270 m | 290 | No overall grade 2025 | 19 | Compare |
| Ashton Community Science College | Council | 620 m | 837 | Good 2023 | 48 | Compare |
| Ashton Primary School | Council | 630 m | 194 | Report card 2026 | 6 | Compare |
| St Bernard's Catholic Primary School, Preston | Academy | 810 m | 226 | Report card 2026 | 31 | Compare |
| Pioneer TEC | Independent | 0.7 miles | 4 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| New Focus Education | Independent | 0.7 miles | 17 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew's Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 0.7 miles | 424 | No overall grade 2024 | 77 | Compare |
| Ingol Community Primary School | Council | 1.0 miles | 208 | Report card 2026 | 59 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Royal Cross Primary School a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score Royal Cross Primary School yet.
How good are Royal Cross Primary School's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 0% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% went further and reached the higher level. The year group was small, so the percentages jump around a lot from year to year.
How many pupils does Royal Cross Primary School have?
34 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 42 places, so it is 81% full.
What is attendance like at Royal Cross Primary School?
Pupils were in school 92.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 35% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Royal Cross Primary School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for hearing impairment. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Elswick Road, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, PR2 1NT
- Telephone
- 01772 729705
- Website
- www.royalcross.lancs.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sofia Parveen
- Type of school
- Council special school (Community special school, special schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 4-11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Ward
- Lea & Larches
- Constituency
- Preston
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2001
- URN
- 133688 · LAESTAB 8887110 · UKPRN 10076667
- Formerly
- Royal Cross Primary School for the Deaf
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.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- 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.