Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Cottesmore St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School is performing well, achieving a 'Good' grade overall in its latest inspection. The school is characterized by strong leadership, high expectations from teachers, and a positive learning environment where students are encouraged to believe in themselves. Relationships among students and staff are supportive, contributing to a nurturing atmosphere where pupils feel safe and enjoy their education. Notably, personal development is identified as a particular strength, with pupils engaging in community projects and demonstrating social awareness. Despite these strengths, there are areas for improvement, particularly in ensuring that all pupils remember their learning in subjects like science and geography. Leaders are actively addressing this by refining the curriculum to help students revisit and reinforce their knowledge. The school has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it continues to strive for excellence, driven by dedicated staff and supportive governance.

Strengths

• High expectations for pupils' learning and behaviour
• Strong leadership and management
• Positive and caring relationships among staff and pupils
• Effective phonics teaching and reading curriculum
• Ambitious mathematics curriculum with strong subject knowledge
• Excellent personal development opportunities for pupils
• Strong culture of safeguarding in the school

Areas for Improvement

• In some foundation subjects, pupils do not revisit gaps in their learning sufficiently

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 Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.0% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Cottesmore St Mary'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 Cottesmore St Mary'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, 10.6% 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, 11.7% of pupils at Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.1% 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 Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School received £5,737 and spent £5,723 for each of its 436 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £146,000 (£335 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 Hove · Brighton and Hove local authority: places and applications

What is Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

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

Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in May 2023.

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

Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School has 436 pupils on roll.

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

Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

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

In 2025, 72% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School?

Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School is at The Upper Drive, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 6NB.