St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury is a 226-pupil church school in the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust. Inspectors found safeguarding standards met and a school with a strong personal-development offer and excellent pupil behaviour; curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, attendance and behaviour, and leadership and governance are all at expected standard. Many pupils join with little prior school experience, and the school has well-above-average SEN support, many pupils new to English and a disadvantaged cohort, which shapes its provision. The main concern is achievement: published outcomes have been below national levels over time, including reading, writing and mathematics, and too many pupils are not reaching age-related expectations, especially in writing. Leaders know this and are focusing on writing fluency and earlier identification of transcription errors. Attendance is improving but persistent absence and punctuality remain issues, and early-years interactions could be maximised further. Strengths include personal development, pastoral care and enrichment; pupils are happy, safe and behave excellently. The curriculum is well sequenced, phonics is taught with fidelity, support for pupils with SEND and new arrivals is effective, and leadership and governance are well supported by the trust. Next steps centre on persistent absence and punctuality, foundational writing, and high-quality early-years interactions.

Strengths

• Broad, well-planned personal development programme that prepares pupils for life beyond school
• Strong pastoral support matched to pupils' needs and families, including bespoke help for asylum-seeking families
• Wide enrichment, clubs, interschool sport and leadership roles accessible to all pupils
• Excellent behaviour around school and in lessons, with clear routines from Nursery
• Calm, harmonious and inclusive culture where pupils feel safe and bullying is rare
• Well-sequenced, progressive curriculum taught by staff with secure subject knowledge
• Effective support for pupils with SEND and pupils new to English, including visual prompts and word banks
• Carefully structured phonics curriculum taught with fidelity
• Positive early years start with purposeful routines, an ambitious curriculum and skilful reading teaching
• Quick and accurate identification of needs, with highly targeted nurture provision
• Dedicated leadership with a secure understanding of strengths and areas to refine
• Strong trust and joint governing board support, challenge and knowledge of context
• Staff feel valued and benefit from well-structured, research-informed professional development
• Pupils make progress from varied starting points and achieve well in the Year 4 multiplication check

Areas for Improvement

• Published outcomes have been below national levels over time, including reading, writing and mathematics
• Too many pupils are not reaching age-related expectations, especially in writing
• Transcription errors in handwriting and spelling are not picked up as quickly as leaders intend
• Persistent absence and punctuality remain concerns despite improving attendance
• Some interventions are not always precisely matched to pupils' needs
• Early years practice could maximise high-quality interactions even further

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 Church of England Primary School, Banbury attended 93.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.3% 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, 2.2% of pupils at St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury 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 Church of England Primary School, Banbury had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 37.1% 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, 36.3% of pupils at St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.8% 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 St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury received £7,559 and spent £6,902 for each of its 223 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £752,000 (£3,370 per pupil).

Across all 45 schools of Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust, income was £7,225 and spending £7,175 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 Banbury · Oxfordshire local authority: places and applications

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury is part of Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust, which runs 46 schools. The nearest others:

• Wroxton Church of England Primary School Banbury
• Christopher Rawlins Church of England Primary School Banbury
• Deddington Church of England Primary School Banbury
• Dr Radcliffe's Church of England Primary School Bicester
• Tackley Church of England Primary School Kidlington
• Dr South's Church of England Primary School Kidlington
• North Leigh Church of England School Witney
• Leafield Church of England Primary School Witney
• The Blake Church of England Primary School Witney
• The Batt Church of England Primary School Witney

What is St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury is Needs attention, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury have?

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury has 226 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury cover?

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury?

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Banbury is at St Mary's C of E Primary School Southam Road, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX16 2EG.