St Mary's Church of England Academy

St Mary’s Church of England Academy has been rated as requiring improvement overall, following its recent inspection. While pupils are happy and engage well in school activities, the school has not ensured that all students achieve their full potential, particularly in literacy. Despite recent improvements in leadership and curriculum implementation, significant work remains to strengthen the quality of education delivered. The school's efforts to enhance reading skills have made some progress; however, many pupils still struggle with fluency and decoding, highlighting a need for further focus in this area.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and engage in a variety of enjoyable activities.
• Pupils follow school rules and are supported in managing their emotions.
• The school has successfully promoted pupils' personal development.
• Improvements have been made in teaching and subject knowledge.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported.

Areas for Improvement

• Outcomes in national tests and assessments were low.
• Not all pupils achieve their potential in reading and writing.
• Teachers do not consistently check pupils' understanding to inform lesson planning.
• Trustees have not provided enough challenge to raise educational standards.

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 Church of England Academy attended 94.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.1% 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, 1.7% of pupils at St Mary's Church of England Academy 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 Church of England Academy had 23.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 31.5% 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, 16.7% of pupils at St Mary's Church of England Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.8% 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 2024–25 St Mary's Church of England Academy received £6,449 and spent £5,914 for each of its 405 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £513,000 (£1,267 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bury St Edmunds · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

What is St Mary's Church of England Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Church of England Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was St Mary's Church of England Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Church of England Academy was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does St Mary's Church of England Academy have?

St Mary's Church of England Academy has 414 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Church of England Academy cover?

St Mary's Church of England Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Mary's Church of England Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 31% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's Church of England Academy?

St Mary's Church of England Academy is at Trinity Avenue, Mildenhall, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 7LR.