St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School has shown marked improvement since its last inspection, now rated as good across all areas of performance. Pupils express pride in their school and its community-focused environment, which fosters positive relationships and encourages respect and tolerance. The school’s curriculum is broad and engaging, particularly excelling in reading and phonics instruction, ensuring that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the necessary support to thrive. However, the school still faces challenges with student attendance, which is below expectations and has impacted some pupils' learning continuity.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to learning.
• The reading and phonics programs are well-implemented and effective.
• Leaders provide effective support for pupils with SEND.
• The mathematics curriculum is well-planned and engaging.
• Pupils value relationships with staff and feel confident to seek support.
• The school fosters a strong sense of community and citizenship among pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment is not used effectively in some subjects, hindering student progress.
• Attendance is below leaders’ expectations, impacting some pupils' learning.

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 Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School attended 89.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 29.5% 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, 3.4% of pupils at St Margaret Clitherow 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 Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School had 15.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.8% 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, 8.9% of pupils at St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.1% 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 Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School received £8,588 and spent £10,870 for each of its 59 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £204,000 (-£3,458 per pupil).

Across all 34 schools of Plymouth Cast, income was £8,158 and spending £8,000 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 Brixham · Torbay local authority: places and applications

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School is part of Plymouth Cast, which runs 34 schools. The nearest others:

• Sacred Heart Catholic School Paignton
• St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Primary School, Dartmouth Dartmouth
• Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary School Torquay
• Priory Roman Catholic Primary School, Torquay Torquay
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Newton Abbot
• Our Lady and St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School Teignmouth
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Buckfast Buckfastleigh
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth Exmouth
• St Nicholas Catholic Primary School Exeter
• Notre Dame RC School Plymouth

What is St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2023.

When was St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School was last inspected in July 2023.

How many pupils does St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School have?

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School has 56 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School cover?

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 29% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School?

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School is at Polhearne Way, Brixham, Devon, TQ5 0EE.