Well Lane Primary School
Well Lane Primary School is a sponsored academy in Birkenhead for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 187 pupils and room for 236. About 68 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was inadequate, back in 2023.
Park Road, Tranmere, Birkenhead, CH42 5PF0151 645 9844Cath Kinnear headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 6 June 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Inadequate overall.
Ofsted has serious worries about this school. It is in special measures.
Results
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
24 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. These are the results of Well Lane Primary School, the school this one replaced.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | 2023† | 2019† | 2018† | 2017† | Wirral | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 24 | 28 | 29 | 23 | 21 | 23 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 17% | 11% | 48% | 52% | 14% | 91% | 57% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 9% | 6% | 8% |
| Reading scoreReading average scaled score | 98.0 | 97.0 | 102.0 | 102.0 | 108.0 | 112.0 | 104.8 | 105.6 |
| Maths scoreMaths average scaled score | 97.0 | 96.0 | 99.0 | 103.0 | 106.0 | 110.0 | 103.5 | 104.6 |
| Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score | 97.0 | 95.0 | 99.0 | 106.0 | 113.0 | 110.0 | 104.1 | 105.2 |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 58% | 43% | 52% | 74% | 14% | 100% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 29% | 25% | 52% | 78% | 14% | 100% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 17% | 25% | 62% | 65% | 76% | 91% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | – | -1.5 | +1.0 | – | +13.6 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | – | -3.1 | +2.9 | – | +9.9 | – | – |
| Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged | 6% | – | 53% | 53% | – | – | – | – |
| Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged | 43% | – | 40% | 50% | – | – | – | – |
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 Well Lane Primary School, the school this one replaced in July 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. 2 of the 3 gaps are 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.
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 Wirral council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 20.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 25.8 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (41), emotional and mental health (23), Specific learning difficulty (3), Autistic spectrum disorder (1), Multi-sensory impairment (1), Other difficulty or disability (1).
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.2% 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 | 6.8% | 8.6% | 10.2% | 11.3% | 8.1% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.8% | 5.6% | 7.7% | 9.0% | 6.3% | 4.8% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 3.0% | 3.0% | 2.5% | 2.3% | 1.8% | 1.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 22.2% | 33.0% | 38.5% | 46.2% | 27.9% | 15.5% | 12.8% |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for Well Lane Primary School, the school this one replaced in July 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 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.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mersey Park Primary School | Council | 480 m | 452 | Not inspected | 73 | Compare |
| Rock Ferry Primary School | Academy | 590 m | 301 | Good 2020 | 2 | Compare |
| Bedford Drive Primary School | Council | 740 m | 406 | Good 2022 | 13 | Compare |
| Devonshire Park Primary School | Council | 0.6 miles | 413 | Not inspected | 10 | Compare |
| St Anne's Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 0.7 miles | 247 | Not inspected | 32 | Compare |
| Woodchurch Road Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 171 | Report card 2025 | 54 | Compare |
| Woodlands Primary School | Council | 0.8 miles | 314 | Good 2022 | 26 | Compare |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Birkenhead | Academy | 0.9 miles | 237 | Good 2022 | 64 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Well Lane Primary School a good school?
Well Lane Primary School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it inadequate at its last inspection in June 2023.
What is Well Lane Primary School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Well Lane Primary School inadequate at its last full inspection on 6 June 2023.
How good are Well Lane Primary School's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 17% 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.
How many pupils does Well Lane Primary School have?
187 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 236 places, so it is 79% full.
What is attendance like at Well Lane Primary School?
Pupils were in school 93.2% 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 Well Lane Primary School?
The average class had 23.4 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
- Park Road, Tranmere, Birkenhead, CH42 5PF
- Telephone
- 0151 645 9844
- Headteacher
- Cath Kinnear
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Rainbow Education Multi-Academy Trust (9 schools)
- Local authority
- Wirral
- Ward
- Birkenhead and Tranmere
- Constituency
- Birkenhead
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 July 2025 (new provision)
- URN
- 151645 · LAESTAB 3442011 · UKPRN 10097371
- Formerly
- Well Lane 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, academy accounts return 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.