St James Academy
St James Academy is a converter academy in Walsall for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 220 pupils and room for 236. About 49 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.
Great Charles Street, Brownhills, Walsall, WS8 6AE01543 452328stjamesprimaryschool.comMrs Joanne Wilson headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 21 February 2024 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
27 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. These are the results of St James Primary School, the school this one replaced.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | 2023† | 2019† | 2018† | 2017† | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 27 | 29 | 24 | 30 | 24 | 32 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 37% | 55% | 50% | 60% | 63% | 63% | 62% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 8% | 0% | 7% | 8% |
| Reading scoreReading average scaled score | 104.0 | 105.0 | 101.0 | 102.0 | 103.0 | 101.0 | 105.2 | 105.6 |
| Maths scoreMaths average scaled score | 103.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 | 104.3 | 104.6 |
| Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score | 105.0 | 106.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 | 106.0 | 103.0 | 105.7 | 105.2 |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 67% | 72% | 58% | 70% | 67% | 63% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 63% | 76% | 67% | 83% | 71% | 69% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 63% | 69% | 71% | 73% | 75% | 75% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | – | -2.7 | -1.9 | +1.6 | -1.2 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | – | +0.3 | -1.2 | +3.8 | +0.5 | – | – |
| Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged | 27% | 54% | 50% | 50% | – | 50% | – | – |
| Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged | 50% | 56% | 50% | 71% | – | 75% | – | – |
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 St James Primary School, the school this one replaced in September 2025. 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
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.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
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 who applied got a place (27 offers for 30 places). 27 families put it down as their first choice and 27 of them got in (100%).
| 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 | 30 | 27 | 48 | 27 | 100% | – all offered | LA |
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 26.7 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 23.4 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (25), Moderate learning difficulty (21), emotional and mental health (13), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), Physical disability (2), Severe learning difficulty (2).
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% | 6.4% | 5.8% | 2.9% | 4.2% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.8% | 4.6% | 4.5% | 4.7% | 2.0% | 2.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.9% | 3.3% | 1.9% | 1.2% | 0.9% | 1.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 18.1% | 26.6% | 17.7% | 17.3% | 5.1% | 5.4% | 12.8% |
† These attendance figures are for St James Primary School, the school this one replaced in September 2025. 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.
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 Bernadette's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 410 m | 104 | Good 2024 | 35 | Compare |
| Millfield Primary School | Council | 690 m | 217 | No overall grade 2025 | 46 | Compare |
| Watling Street Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 235 | Good 2022 | 29 | Compare |
| Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 0.8 miles | 197 | Good 2022 | 27 | Compare |
| Walsall Wood School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 231 | Good 2022 | 88 | Compare |
| Brownhills West Primary School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 190 | No overall grade 2025 | 22 | Compare |
| St John's Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 1.4 miles | 340 | Good 2023 | 51 | Compare |
| Castlefort Academy | Academy | 1.5 miles | 225 | No overall grade 2025 | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is St James Academy a good school?
St James Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in February 2024.
What is St James Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated St James Academy good at its last full inspection on 21 February 2024.
How good are St James Academy's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 37% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 7% went further and reached the higher level.
How many pupils does St James Academy have?
220 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 236 places, so it is 93% full.
What is attendance like at St James Academy?
Pupils were in school 92.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 18% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at St James Academy?
The average class had 22.0 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
- Great Charles Street, Brownhills, Walsall, WS8 6AE
- Telephone
- 01543 452328
- Website
- www.stjamesprimaryschool.com
- Headteacher
- Mrs Joanne Wilson
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Lighthouse Multi Academy Trust (9 schools)
- Local authority
- Walsall
- Ward
- Brownhills
- Constituency
- Aldridge-Brownhills
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2025 (academy converter)
- URN
- 151996 · LAESTAB 3352248 · UKPRN 10098543
- Formerly
- St James Primary School
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: Walsall council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- 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.