St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster

The school is a small Roman Catholic primary in Warminster serving a military town, with 72 pupils on roll at the time of the inspection and significant leadership change since September 2024. It has been through a period of positive change under a new headteacher and assistant headteacher, and safeguarding requirements are met. Pupils are proud of their school, attendance is high and sustained, and behaviour is a clear strength: pupils are respectful, kind and quick to help each other make positive choices, with bullying rare. Leaders have revised the curriculum so it is well sequenced and ambitious, and staff share routines and subject knowledge. Early reading and phonics are robust, foundational skills are prioritised, and pupils generally progress well from their starting points. Early years provision is distinct and well planned, inclusion systems identify needs, disadvantaged funding is used well, and governance and staff development are effective. Parents and external professionals speak positively about the school. Published outcomes are improving but remain close to national average in many measures, with some weaker results in reading, writing and mathematics and notable gaps for disadvantaged pupils. Inspectors also noted that high expectations for writing are not yet consistently applied across the wider curriculum, that curriculum evaluation should continue to raise outcomes including in early years, and that SEND targets and progress tracking need to be more precise. The school is therefore solid rather than outstanding overall, with behaviour and attendance as its strongest features.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy school and attendance is high and sustained across all groups.
• Pupils show a strong sense of connection and belonging to the school.
• Behaviour is respectful and kind, and bullying is rare.
• Leaders act quickly to improve attendance, including for pupils who join in-year.
• Early reading and phonics are taught robustly and systematically.
• Pupils, including those with barriers to learning, progress well from their starting points.
• The curriculum is well sequenced, ambitious and mapped across subjects.
• Teachers share secure subject knowledge and common teaching routines.
• Early years provision is well planned, with a strong focus on language and communication.
• Leaders identify and track pupils' needs as they emerge, and disadvantaged funding is well deployed.
• Governance is well informed and effective in holding leaders to account.
• Staff feel well supported by leaders and value the coherent working environment.
• Personal development is well planned, with strong pastoral care, clubs, trips and pupil leadership roles.
• Parents and external professionals respond positively to the school.

Areas for Improvement

• Published outcomes are improving but remain close to national averages in many metrics, with some below-average results in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Disadvantaged pupils' performance gaps remain notable in reading, writing and mathematics.
• High expectations for writing are not yet consistently replicated across the whole curriculum.
• Leaders need to continue evaluating curriculum refinements, including in early years, to raise outcomes across all key metrics.
• SEND actions and targets are sometimes too broad, making progress harder to track precisely.
• Inclusion strategies can be broad, limiting precise tracking of pupil progress.

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 George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster attended 96.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.3% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster 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 George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster had 11.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 47.6% 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, 15.7% of pupils at St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.3% 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 George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster received £10,217 and spent £10,422 for each of its 70 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £54,000 (-£769 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 Warminster · Wiltshire local authority: places and applications

What is St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster last inspected by Ofsted?

St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster have?

St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster has 70 pupils on roll.

What age range does St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster cover?

St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 65% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster?

St George's Catholic Primary School, Warminster is at Woodcock Road, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 9EZ.