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St Mark's CofE Primary School

Academy sponsor led in Wigan, WN5 9DS, taking ages 2 to 11, 240 on roll.

Good Ofsted, Nov 2023
0.8 mi Admitted from, 2025/26
114% Full, over capacity
44.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 0.8 miles away.

Applying for September 2027? Primary applications close 15 January 2027; offers on 16 April 2027.

The circle is 0.8 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.

St Mark's CofE Primary School: 0.8 miles, 2025/26 Beech Hill Community Primary School: 0.65 miles, 2025/26, published by Wigan

This is not a catchment area. 0.8 miles was last year's outcome, not a boundary and not a promise.
How to read this

Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When St Mark's CofE Primary School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.

Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children and faith criteria come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.

Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary.

The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.

One published year so far: 2025/26, from Wigan. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Wigan, published admission distances, 2025/26

Where St Mark's CofE Primary School and Beech Hill Community Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Beech Hill Community Primary School admitted from 0.65 miles in 2025/26, published by Wigan. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 0.8 and 0.65 miles, and the ground those circles share holds no district centre, which is a fact about where the centres fall rather than about any one address. The map above shows both, and the postcode checker answers for both.

Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.

Drop Beech Hill Community Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Wigan, 30 of 192 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (15.6%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.

Other schools nearby with a published distance

The closest schools to St Mark's CofE Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
St James' Church of England Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.86 mi 2025/26 0.5 mi
Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.46 mi 2025/26 0.8 mi
Marsh Green Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.36 mi 2025/26 0.9 mi
St Paul's Church of England Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.3 mi 2025/26 1.0 mi
Marus Bridge Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.27 mi 2025/26 1.3 mi
Beech Hill Community Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.65 mi 2025/26 1.4 mi

The distance as a picture

St Mark's CofE Primary School catchment area map: the 0.8 mile admission distance, 2025/26
Drawn to scale from the published figure. Save the picture, or share this page and this is the card that appears.

What kind of school this is

Religious characterChurch of England
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 240 pupils in 210 places (114% full, over capacity)
TrustTHE WINGS' CE TRUST
Local authorityWigan

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Good, inspected 08 November 2023
Meeting the expected standard 44.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 44.0%
2023/24 30.0%
2022/23 60.0%

Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.

Who goes to St Mark's CofE Primary School

Girls and boys44.2% girls, 55.8% boys
English as an additional language21.3% of pupils
Free school meals40.8% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Getting to St Mark's CofE Primary School by bus

Best-served stop: Scot Lane, 0.1 mi away, with 10.7 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:03, last 01:03 after midnight.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Scot Lane0.1 mi10.45.03.8603, 352, 375, 385, 633
Albert Street0.1 mi4.02.21.9603, 949
Scot Lane0.1 mi10.75.04.0604, 352, 375, 385, 633

These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.

Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026

The fee-paying alternative

Weighing St Mark's CofE Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around WN5: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at WN5 9DS, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →

Checking the house as well as the school

The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.

Common questions

What is the catchment area for St Mark's CofE Primary School?

St Mark's CofE Primary School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in 2025/26 lived 0.8 miles away, per Wigan.

How close do I need to live to get a place at St Mark's CofE Primary School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.8 miles was enough in 2025/26, and at 114% full the school has little slack. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.

Does buying a house near St Mark's CofE Primary School guarantee a place?

No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings and faith criteria ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.

Every Wigan school's distance

All Wigan schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →

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Admission distance published by Wigan. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.