St Mary's Catholic Academy

St Mary’s Catholic Academy continues to uphold the standards established during its previous inspection, demonstrating a commitment to its pupils and community. The school provides a nurturing environment where pupils are supported in their educational journey and personal development. With a strong curriculum in place, students are achieving positively, particularly in writing and reading, showing enthusiasm for learning and extracurricular activities. The community aspect is a notable strength, with strong ties between the school, pupils, and local residents.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate compassion and empathy towards one another.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Significant improvement in pupils' writing fluency and reading confidence.
• Strong community involvement and active citizenship among pupils.
• Regular attendance and positive behavior in school.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils struggle with basic number facts and timetables, impacting their math fluency.

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 Catholic Academy attended 97.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.2% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic 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 Catholic Academy had 18.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.8% 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, 7.8% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.9% 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 Catholic Academy received £8,189 and spent £8,305 for each of its 154 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £6,000 (£39 per pupil).

Across all 56 schools of St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,565 and spending £7,594 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 Leek · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

St Mary's Catholic Academy is part of St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 64 schools. The nearest others:

• Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Marys Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• Our Lady and St Benedict Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Maria Goretti Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St George and St Martin's Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• St Joseph's Catholic Academy, Goldenhill Stoke-On-Trent
• St Peter's Catholic Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• The Faber Catholic Primary School Stoke-On-Trent

What is St Mary's Catholic Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Catholic Academy is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was St Mary's Catholic Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Catholic Academy was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary's Catholic Academy have?

St Mary's Catholic Academy has 179 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Catholic Academy cover?

St Mary's Catholic Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Mary's Catholic Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 93% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's Catholic Academy?

St Mary's Catholic Academy is at Cruso Street, Leek, Staffordshire, ST13 8BW.