St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School

St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School is a happy, inclusive primary where pupils achieve well and leave as well-rounded, confident members of the community. Inspectors found the school strong overall, with personal development and early years provision standing out as outstanding; quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management were good. Safeguarding is effective. The school is part of the Diocese of Westminster Academy Trust and was inspected in July 2025; under current arrangements, no overall effectiveness grade was awarded. Pupils benefit from an ambitious curriculum built around inclusion, independence and inspiration, with an excellent start in early years and strong reading and phonics. Behaviour is calm and purposeful, pupils are respectful and well-being is central to school life. Personal development is exceptional, with reflection, trips, leadership roles, charity work, performances and careers activities. The main areas to improve are consistency in a few foundation or wider curriculum subjects, where teaching does not always match leaders’ intentions and can leave gaps in pupils’ knowledge. In Years 1 to 6, staff do not consistently use assessment information to recognise when pupils are ready for more demanding work, so some pupils do not deepen their understanding as well as they could. Leaders also need a more secure understanding of curriculum implementation in a few subjects. Overall, this is a strong school with clear, specific next steps.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• An ambitious, interesting curriculum is built around inclusion, independence and inspiration.
• Early years provision gives children an excellent start, with skilled staff supporting exploration and interests.
• Reading and phonics are strong, with pupils reading fluently, widely and for pleasure.
• Pupils are respectful, well behaved and care for one another.
• Staff prioritise pupils’ well-being, mental and physical health, and readiness to learn.
• Exceptional personal development opportunities include reflection, trips, leadership roles, charity work, performances and careers activities.
• Subject leadership is a strength, and staff collaborate effectively across the trust.
• The school’s values and ethos are evident in daily life.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a few foundation or wider curriculum subjects, teaching is inconsistent and content is not always delivered as leaders intend, creating gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding.
• In Years 1 to 6, staff do not consistently use assessment information to identify when pupils are ready for more demanding curriculum content, so some pupils do not deepen their understanding as well as they could.
• In a few subjects, the school does not have a secure understanding of how well the curriculum is implemented.

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 Roman Catholic Primary School attended 95.4% 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, 1.3% of pupils at St Mary 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 Roman Catholic Primary School had 21.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.5% 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, 11.9% of pupils at St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.5% 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 Roman Catholic Primary School received £7,066 and spent £6,855 for each of its 233 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £30,000 (£127 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of The Diocese of Westminster Academy Trust, income was £7,471 and spending £7,253 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 Royston · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School is part of The Diocese of Westminster Academy Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• St John Roman Catholic Primary School Baldock
• St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School Letchworth Garden City
• Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Primary School Stevenage
• The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School Stevenage
• Our Lady Catholic Primary School Hitchin
• St Margaret Clitherow Roman Catholic Primary School Stevenage
• The Holy Family Catholic Primary School Welwyn Garden City
• Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School St Albans
• Saint Michael's Catholic High School Watford
• St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School Watford

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School have?

St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School has 227 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School cover?

St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School?

St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School is at Melbourn Road, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 7DB.