St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School is performing well with an overall effectiveness rating of good. The school has established a welcoming and inclusive environment where pupils feel secure and valued. With a strong focus on personal development, pupils demonstrate exceptional behaviour and a keen enthusiasm for learning. The leadership team has effectively addressed any gaps in educational performance resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), receive high-quality support and make strong progress.

Strengths

• Exceptional support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Strong community atmosphere that helps pupils to feel secure.
• Pupils demonstrate outstanding behaviour and attitudes.
• Comprehensive and engaging curriculum contributing significantly to personal development.
• Effective leadership with high aspirations for all pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Insufficient clarity about how early years learning builds on later subjects such as mathematics and science.

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 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.4% 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, 0.5% 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 22.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.9% 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, 18.0% of pupils at St Margaret Clitherow 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 Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School received £6,470 and spent £6,172 for each of its 381 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £354,000 (£930 per pupil).

Across all 30 schools of Kent Catholic Schools' Partnership, income was £6,963 and spending £6,776 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 Tonbridge · Kent local authority: places and applications

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School is part of Kent Catholic Schools' Partnership, which runs 33 schools. The nearest others:

• St Gregory's Catholic School Tunbridge Wells
• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Tunbridge Wells
• St Thomas' Catholic Primary School, Sevenoaks Sevenoaks
• More Park Catholic Primary School West Malling
• St Francis' Catholic Primary School, Maidstone Maidstone
• St Simon Stock Catholic School Maidstone
• Our Lady of Hartley Catholic Primary School, Hartley, Longfield Longfield
• The Holy Family Catholic Primary School Maidstone
• St Bartholomew's Catholic Primary School, Swanley Swanley
• St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School Chatham

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 December 2022.

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

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School was last inspected in December 2022.

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

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School has 367 pupils on roll.

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

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 86% 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 Trench Road, Tonbridge, Kent, TN11 9NG.