St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge

St John’s Catholic Primary School in Trowbridge has maintained its 'good' status during its first ungraded inspection since March 2017. The school promotes a warm and caring environment, with pupils demonstrating strong behaviour and a commitment to their school's Catholic values. Leaders are driven in their ambition for students' educational outcomes, and it's evident that pupils thrive, including those with special educational needs. However, there are noted areas for improvement, particularly in ensuring the reading curriculum aligns better with students' phonetic abilities, especially in key stage 1.

Strengths

• Pupils excel in a warm and caring school culture.
• Strong leadership with ambitious educational goals.
• High expectations lead to motivated pupils who achieve well.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs.
• Wide range of extracurricular activities fostering individual talents.
• Strong emphasis on pupils' wider development and citizenship.

Areas for Improvement

• Reading books in key stage 1 are not always matched to pupils' phonetic knowledge.
• In a few subjects, prior knowledge essential for learning is not clearly identified.

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 John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.2% 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, 0.3% of pupils at St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge 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 John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge had 22.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.3% 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, 9.3% of pupils at St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.7% 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 John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge received £6,082 and spent £6,177 for each of its 300 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £50,000 (£167 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 Trowbridge · Wiltshire local authority: places and applications

What is St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge is Good, from an inspection in January 2023.

When was St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge last inspected by Ofsted?

St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge was last inspected in January 2023.

How many pupils does St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge have?

St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge has 300 pupils on roll.

What age range does St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge cover?

St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 55% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge?

St John's Catholic Primary School, Trowbridge is at Wingfield Road, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 9EA.