St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School

St Mary’s and St Benedict’s Roman Catholic Primary School is a happy, calm and orderly school where pupils feel safe, behave well and benefit from strong relationships with staff. The inspection found good provision in behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years, with effective safeguarding. Since the previous inspection, leaders have taken swift action to improve behaviour, attendance and curriculum thinking, and pupils are beginning to benefit from raised expectations and a more ambitious curriculum. The school’s strengths include effective support for pupils with SEND, a strong start in reading in early years, well-considered personal development and a wide range of opportunities beyond the academic curriculum. Governors provide appropriate challenge and support, and staff workload and well-being are considered. Attendance has improved, and most pupils attend regularly. However, the quality of education still requires improvement. Curriculum thinking is not complete in a few subjects, and teachers do not consistently identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge, meaning some pupils are moved on before they are ready. Some pupils, including in Years 1 and 2 and older pupils, struggle to read fluently, and phonics catch-up support is not precise enough. These issues hinder how well some pupils achieve across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy school, feel safe and trust staff to help with worries.
• Staff build strong relationships with pupils and their families.
• The school is calm and orderly, and pupils behave well in lessons and around school.
• Leaders have raised expectations and introduced a more ambitious curriculum in most subjects.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and supported effectively, with teaching adapted so they can learn alongside peers.
• Reading has a high priority, and children in early years get off to a strong start in learning to read.
• Early years provision is good; children build positive relationships and develop mathematical understanding well.
• Personal development is well considered, with pupils discussing healthy relationships, online safety and British values maturely.
• Pupils benefit from trips, visitors and leadership responsibilities such as school councillors, eco councillors and the chaplaincy team.
• Attendance is a high priority and most pupils attend regularly.
• Governors have appropriate experience and expertise to challenge and support the school.
• Staff are proud to work at the school, and leaders are mindful of workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement.
• Curriculum thinking is not complete in a few subjects, so pupils do not build a rich body of knowledge.
• Teachers do not check pupils’ learning well enough to identify gaps in knowledge.
• Gaps and misconceptions from the previous curriculum go unaddressed, and pupils are sometimes moved on before they are ready.
• Some pupils in Years 1 and 2 and some older pupils struggle to read fluently.
• Support for pupils who fall behind in phonics is not precise enough to address gaps in their knowledge.
• Where the curriculum is less well developed, pupils with SEND achieve less well.

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 and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.0% 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, 3.0% of pupils at St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman 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 Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School had 19.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.4% 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, 12.4% of pupils at St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School received £7,593 and spent £7,599 for each of its 251 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £105,000 (£419 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 Preston · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School have?

St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School has 251 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School cover?

St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School?

St Mary's and St Benedict's Roman Catholic Primary School is at Brownedge Lane, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire, PR5 6TA.