St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston

St Mary’s CofE Primary School Moston is a nurturing, community-focused primary school where pupils are happy, polite and achieve well. The June 2025 graded inspection found the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision all to be good, matching the previous inspection judgment. The Church of England school, which has 233 pupils aged 3 to 11, has worked successfully to secure several improvements since its last inspection. Notable strengths include an inclusive approach to pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), effective phonics and reading provision, high attendance, and a broad personal development programme. Pupils benefit from strong relationships, a caring atmosphere and a wide range of experiences that broaden their horizons. Governors are well trained and hold leaders to account, and staff feel supported in their workload and well-being. The main areas for improvement are concentrated in curriculum implementation. In a small number of subjects, the curriculum is not clearly sequenced, so pupils do not build knowledge securely over time. In some subjects, staff are unclear about how to deliver aspects of the curriculum or choose activities and explanations that do not deepen learning. Assessment systems in a few subjects also need refinement so that gaps in pupils’ understanding, including those with SEND, are identified and addressed consistently.

Strengths

• Nurturing and caring atmosphere where pupils feel happy and loved
• High expectations for academic achievement and wider development, including for pupils with SEND
• Pupils are courteous, well-mannered and confident citizens
• Inclusive culture where differences are celebrated and everyone is welcome
• Significant progress in supporting pupils with SEND to achieve well and take part fully in school life
• Effective phonics teaching with prompt support for pupils who struggle with reading
• Pupils develop a love of reading from early years and read widely as they get older
• Consistently high attendance supported by strong parental relationships
• Broad personal development programme covering healthy relationships, safety and mental health
• Wide range of clubs, trips and visits that develop talents and raise aspirations
• Pupils contribute to school life as councillors, urban crew and sports leaders
• Staff are proud to work at the school and feel their workload and well-being are considered
• Governors are well informed, well trained and hold leaders to account

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects, the curriculum is not clearly sequenced, so pupils do not build knowledge securely over time
• A minority of staff are unclear how to deliver aspects of some subject curriculums and do not always choose the most beneficial activities and explanations
• In a few subjects, assessment systems are not purposeful enough to identify gaps in pupils’ understanding and inform future teaching
• Assessment information is not consistently used to identify gaps for all pupils, including those with SEND

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 Mary's CofE Primary School Moston attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.8% 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, 1.7% of pupils at St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston 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 Mary's CofE Primary School Moston had 21.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 12.3% of pupils at St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 Mary's CofE Primary School Moston received £7,645 and spent £7,785 for each of its 235 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £47,000 (£201 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).

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What is St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston have?

St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston has 235 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston cover?

St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 31% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston?

St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston is at St Mary's Road, Moston, Manchester, Lancashire, M40 0DF.