School Chooser

Sandiway Primary School

Primary · ages 5-11MixedAcademy202 pupilsNorthwichCheshire West and Chester
School Chooser Score
84
Above
similar schools
Likely range 68 to 93
Out of 100. Better than 49% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
OfstedNo overall gradeLast Ofsted inspection, January 2025
Reached the expected level at 1168%England 63%
Attendance96.6%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families3%Far fewer than most schools
Places8 spare202 pupils, 210 places
Pupils per teacher26.6School workforce census

Sandiway Primary School is a converter academy in Northwich for boys and girls aged 5 to 11. It has 202 pupils and room for 210. About 3 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 84 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 49% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.

Weaverham Road, Sandiway, Northwich, CW8 2ND01606 883298sandiway.cheshire.sch.ukMrs Kathryn Harvey headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 28 January 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Outstanding
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Outstanding
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Outstanding
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

25 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1168%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level4%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score106.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score104.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 69%69%20172018: 69%69%20182019: 88%88%20192023: 81%81%20232024: 74%74%20242025: 68%68%2025
Since 2017: -1%Declining overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure2025202420232019†2018†2017†Cheshire West and ChesterEngland
Pupils tested252731323232
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths68%74%81%88%69%69%62%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths4%0%6%34%9%22%6%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score106.0107.0108.0111.0108.0107.0105.9105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score104.0106.0106.0111.0108.0107.0104.5104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score105.0108.0106.0114.0111.0109.0105.2105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard76%89%87%97%88%78%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard80%93%87%97%88%88%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)72%81%84%91%72%75%
Reading progressReading progress score+2.7+3.6+1.0+2.6
Maths progressMaths progress score+1.0+3.3+2.3+3.0
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged14%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged84%

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.

† These results are for Sandiway Primary School, the school this one replaced in October 2019. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.

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. None of the 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

Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
57%82%
Gap 25 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

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.

Catchment area

Cheshire West and Chester council has drawn an official catchment area for this school. You can see it on the map below; it covers about 6.7 square kilometres. Living inside it moves your child up the queue when there are more applicants than places. It doesn't guarantee a place: the council's admissions rules decide the order.

Set your home postcode at the top of the page to see whether you live inside it.

A few spare places198 pupils for 210 places, 2024/25
94% full

About 12 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 7% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.

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 Cheshire West and Chester council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

What a home inside the catchment costs

Typical sale price inside the catchment£410,000half sold for £325k to £588k
Homes sold97December 2023 to December 2025, Land Registry
Compared with the district+57%a typical home in the district sells for £261,000

Every home sold inside the council's catchment area, 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.

Pupils on roll202Census January 2026
Places21096% full
Pupils from low-income families3%3% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English0%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support10%21 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan7%14 pupils with a plan
Average class size28.97 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)2%£6,200 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls102 / 100
White British pupils95%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 29.7 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 28.3 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (17), Specific learning difficulty (10), emotional and mental health (5), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (2), Autistic spectrum disorder (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll202201201212211213
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals3%5%6%6%5%5%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language0%0%0%0%0%0%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support14%10%9%10%5%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%3%1%1%1%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.6% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance96.6%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school4.1%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.52024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission0.5%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19†England
Sessions missedOverall absence3.4%3.3%4.0%5.0%1.9%2.3%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence2.9%2.9%3.5%4.6%1.8%1.9%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence0.5%0.4%0.5%0.4%0.1%0.4%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence4.1%4.4%7.6%6.5%1.6%2.2%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.50.50.00.00.0
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

† These attendance figures are for Sandiway Primary School, the school this one replaced in October 2019. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers7.6full-time equivalent, 9 people
Pupils per teacher26.6Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers89%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants4.9full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£50,770
Teachers who left in the year12%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher5.22024/25

Money

From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£6,701England £7,128. Total £1.3m
Income per pupil£6,881England £7,587. Total £1.4m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,846England £3,405
Money in reserve-4%In the red: -£61k, -£303 per pupil. England 9%
Money in against money out+£36kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£6,701spent per pupil

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

Crimes within 500 m1712 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate38 per 1,000 people58% lower than the England average
Typical house price£260,000Cheshire West and Chester
Nearest bus stop150 mRosslyn Lane, 4 stops within 500 m

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.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Cuddington Primary SchoolAcademy970 m190Good 202361Compare
St Bede's Catholic Primary School, WeaverhamRoman Catholic1.7 miles151Good 202378Compare
Weaverham Forest Primary SchoolCouncil1.8 miles225Good 202213Compare
Weaverham Primary AcademyAcademy1.8 miles113Good 202322Compare
Whitegate CofE Primary SchoolChurch of England1.9 miles141Not inspected72Compare
Hartford Primary SchoolAcademy1.9 miles396Good 202168Compare
Norley Church of England Primary SchoolAcademy2.3 miles100Good 201973Compare
Hartford Manor Primary School & NurseryCouncil2.5 miles442Good 202378Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Sandiway Primary School with the 47 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 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats49%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the lower half of its group. Its score of 84 is about the same as the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 31 · middle 85 · highest 99100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 47 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Sandiway Primary School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Guilden Sutton CofE Primary SchoolChurch of England10.1 miles207Outstanding 202497Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 84 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 84% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 68 to 93. 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 atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%above
+0.12
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 25 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%well above
+0.27
Ofsted grade, 1.6 years old
Progress pupils make20%above
+0.09
DfE progress measure; 25 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%below
-0.10
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%well above
+0.13
2024/25; 173 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%in line
-0.02
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 25 pupils
What parents say0%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 Sandiway Primary School a good school?

Yes, going by the figures. Sandiway Primary School scores 84 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 49% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 68 to 93, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Sandiway Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Sandiway Primary School not judged at its last full inspection on 28 January 2025.

How good are Sandiway Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 68% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 4% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Sandiway Primary School have?

202 pupils aged 5 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 210 places, so it is 96% full.

Is Sandiway Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 12 places were empty in 2024/25 (6% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Sandiway Primary School?

Pupils were in school 96.6% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 4% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Sandiway Primary School?

The average class had 28.9 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class 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
Weaverham Road, Sandiway, Northwich, CW8 2ND
Telephone
01606 883298
Website
www.sandiway.cheshire.sch.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Kathryn Harvey
Type of school
Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
Phase
Primary school, ages 5-11
Gender
Mixed
Multi-academy trust
Create Learning Trust (4 schools)
Local authority
Cheshire West and Chester
Ward
Weaver & Cuddington
Constituency
Chester South and Eddisbury
Setting
Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 October 2019 (academy converter)
URN
146131 · LAESTAB 8962181 · UKPRN 10083608
Formerly
Sandiway Primary School

Where these figures come from