St Mark's Catholic Primary School

St Mark's Catholic Primary is a friendly, welcoming school where pupils are happy, respectful and conduct themselves well. Behaviour and personal development are good, relationships are strong and pupils value the extra opportunities, including sports competitions, assemblies and pupil roles. Safeguarding is effective, pupils with SEND are identified and supported well, and staff appreciate the support for workload and training. The school has begun to raise expectations and improve its curriculum, and in many subjects leaders have identified essential knowledge and staff deliver it effectively. However, quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision require improvement. Curriculum implementation is uneven in some subjects and early years areas, staff are sometimes unsure what to teach or how to pitch activities, and pupils' errors in writing are not consistently addressed. Phonics is not yet consistently strong, and a high proportion of pupils do not attend school as often as they should, so they miss important learning. Governors' systems for checking school performance are new and not yet fully embedded. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and there have been changes in leadership, including a new headteacher and chair of governors. The report notes no overall effectiveness grade under the current inspection framework.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, respectful and conduct themselves well.
• Strong relationships across the school community.
• Good behaviour and attitudes in lessons and around school.
• Personal development is strong, with a wide range of extra opportunities.
• Pupils value roles such as school council, sports council and worship warriors.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Pupils with SEND are identified and supported effectively.
• Staff value support for workload and subject-specific training.
• Early years staff build positive relationships and help children settle into routines.
• Many staff deliver the curriculum effectively where subject knowledge is secure.
• The phonics curriculum has been refreshed and staff subject knowledge has generally improved.

Areas for Improvement

• Quality of education requires improvement.
• Leadership and management require improvement.
• Early years provision requires improvement.
• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent in some subjects and early years areas.
• Some staff are unsure how to deliver parts of the curriculum, leading to unsuitable activities.
• Pupils' misunderstandings and errors in writing are not always addressed.
• Pupils frequently show weak letter formation, grammar or spelling.
• Phonics delivery is not consistently strong and checks on pupils' knowledge are sometimes unfocused.
• Some pupils read books that are too difficult for them.
• A high proportion of pupils do not attend school often enough.
• Governors' new performance-monitoring systems need refining and embedding.
• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they should in a few subjects.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Mark's Catholic Primary School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at St Mark's Catholic Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St Mark's Catholic Primary School had 19.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 29.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 23.0% of pupils at St Mark's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St Mark's Catholic Primary School received £7,747 and spent £7,837 for each of its 213 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £118,000 (£552 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Liverpool · Knowsley local authority: places and applications

What is St Mark's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mark's Catholic Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was St Mark's Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mark's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does St Mark's Catholic Primary School have?

St Mark's Catholic Primary School has 217 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mark's Catholic Primary School cover?

St Mark's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Mark's Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mark's Catholic Primary School?

St Mark's Catholic Primary School is at Fir Avenue, Halewood, Liverpool, Merseyside, L26 0XR.