St Edmund's Catholic Primary School

St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School is a welcoming and inclusive primary where pupils are respectful, behave well and enjoy a wide range of activities. Inspectors judged the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision all to be good, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the headteacher joined in September 2022. Leaders are ambitious and have taken effective steps to improve teaching and learning. Current pupils achieve well across the curriculum, with outcomes stronger than those reflected in the 2024 national test results. Reading and phonics are particular strengths, pupils with SEND are well supported, and personal development is thoughtfully planned. Pupils take on meaningful responsibilities and benefit from strong community links. The main areas for improvement are consistency in assessment and writing. In some subjects, assessment is not used sharply enough to identify gaps in pupils’ understanding, and pupils do not consistently have enough opportunities to explain their thinking in writing across the wider curriculum. The school has already responded effectively to lower 2024 key stage 2 test outcomes by strengthening writing and mathematics teaching.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive school where pupils are respectful and feel valued
• Pupils behave well, with calm classrooms and positive lunchtime behaviour
• Leaders are ambitious and have improved teaching and learning effectively
• Current pupils achieve well across the curriculum
• Curriculum has clear progression from early years to Year 6
• Staff have secure subject knowledge and design purposeful tasks
• Strong start to reading and phonics with well-trained staff and targeted support
• Pupils develop a love of reading through regular reading and author visits
• Well-trained staff support pupils with SEND successfully, including highly personalised provision
• Personal development is thoughtfully planned, including British values, health and diversity
• Pupils take on meaningful responsibilities and run clubs for younger peers
• Attendance is tracked carefully and families receive effective support when concerns arise
• Staff feel well supported by leaders and parents are generally supportive
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, assessment is not used sharply enough to check pupils’ understanding
• Gaps in pupils’ knowledge can go unnoticed in subjects where assessment is less consistent
• Pupils do not consistently have enough opportunities to explain their thinking in writing across the wider curriculum
• Key stage 2 national test outcomes in 2024 were lower than in previous years

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 Edmund's Catholic Primary School attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.2% 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, 3.1% of pupils at St Edmund'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 Edmund's Catholic Primary School had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 47.9% 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, 26.4% of pupils at St Edmund's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 9.3% 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 Edmund's Catholic Primary School received £8,060 and spent £8,368 for each of its 176 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £87,000 (-£495 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 Abingdon · Oxfordshire local authority: places and applications

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

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

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

St Edmund's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

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

St Edmund's Catholic Primary School has 182 pupils on roll.

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

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

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

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Edmund's Catholic Primary School?

St Edmund's Catholic Primary School is at Radley Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3PP.