The Cathedral School of St Mary

The Cathedral School of St Mary is a small Roman Catholic primary academy in Plymouth, part of the Plymouth CAST multi-academy trust. Following a previous inspection that judged the school as requiring improvement, this inspection found the school to be performing well across most areas, with good quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and early years provision. Personal development was judged outstanding. The school has a warm and inclusive culture, celebrates its diverse pupil intake and has high expectations for all pupils, including those with SEND. Reading is central to the school's work, with early phonics and effective catch-up support for pupils who join later or speak English as an additional language. The school has strengthened SEND identification and support, and pastoral care is exceptional. Pupils behave well, attendance is improving rapidly for disadvantaged pupils, and pupils benefit from a wide range of personal development opportunities, including careers activities, sports and the arts. Governance and trust support are effective, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main area for improvement is assessment in some wider curriculum subjects. Assessment practices are not yet implemented consistently, so curriculum adaptations are sometimes not well matched to pupils' different starting points. This can limit pupils' opportunities to show what they know and can do independently. The school should use assessment more precisely to help pupils build on prior knowledge.

Strengths

• Reading is central to the life of the school, with early phonics and regular reading practice.
• Effective support helps pupils who join late or speak English as an additional language to catch up rapidly.
• The school has strengthened identification and support for pupils with SEND.
• There is a sharp focus on communication and speech and language in the early years.
• Staff have increased rigour in the teaching of reading and mathematics.
• Carefully designed routines help pupils stay on task and behave well.
• Pastoral support is exceptional and pupils feel happy and safe.
• Attendance of disadvantaged pupils is improving rapidly.
• Personal development is outstanding, with strong careers, sports and arts opportunities.
• Governance and trust support are effective in supporting school improvement.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment practices are not yet implemented consistently in some subjects.
• Curriculum adaptations are sometimes not well matched to pupils' different starting points.
• Occasional work given to pupils does not clearly build on what they already know and can do.
• The school needs to refine curriculum adaptations using assessment so pupils build more precisely on prior knowledge.

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 The Cathedral School of St Mary attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.9% 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, 3.7% of pupils at The Cathedral School of St Mary 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 The Cathedral School of St Mary had 15.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.2% 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, 17.6% of pupils at The Cathedral School of St Mary were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.8% 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 The Cathedral School of St Mary received £8,782 and spent £8,541 for each of its 108 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £415,000 (£3,839 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 Plymouth · Plymouth local authority: places and applications

The Cathedral School of St Mary is part of Plymouth Cast, which runs 34 schools. The nearest others:

• Holy Cross Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• Keyham Barton Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Boniface's RC College Plymouth
• St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Peter's RC Primary School Plymouth
• Notre Dame RC School Plymouth
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Buckfast Buckfastleigh
• St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Primary School, Dartmouth Dartmouth
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Newton Abbot

What is The Cathedral School of St Mary's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Cathedral School of St Mary is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was The Cathedral School of St Mary last inspected by Ofsted?

The Cathedral School of St Mary was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does The Cathedral School of St Mary have?

The Cathedral School of St Mary has 102 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Cathedral School of St Mary cover?

The Cathedral School of St Mary for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are The Cathedral School of St Mary's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is The Cathedral School of St Mary?

The Cathedral School of St Mary is at Cecil Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 5HW.