St Marys Church of England Primary Academy

St Marys Church of England Primary Academy is a welcoming and inclusive school with a genuine community spirit. Pupils behave well, feel safe and benefit from good personal development and early years provision. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, Reception provision is strong in language and communication, and safeguarding is effective. However, the quality of education and leadership and management require improvement. In some key stage 1 and 2 subjects, the curriculum does not build coherently on prior knowledge, teaching is inconsistent, and activities are not always matched to pupils' needs, including those with SEND. Extra reading support is not precise enough for some pupils, persistent absence remains high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, and key stage 2 attainment is low. This was the school's first routine inspection since the pandemic and its first section 5 inspection. The school has experienced leadership and staffing instability and is supported by the Collaborative Learning Trust. Recent improvements are noted, but professional development has not yet had the desired impact on teaching quality.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive school with a genuine community spirit
• Strong, trusting relationships with parents and carers
• Pupils are polite, friendly and inquisitive, and behave well
• Calm and orderly environment where pupils feel safe
• Broad and ambitious curriculum, especially well developed in early years
• Purposeful Reception environment that supports language, communication and early phonics and mathematics
• Effective identification of SEND and strong support for social, emotional and mental health needs
• Phonics taught well, with most Year 1 pupils reading at an age-appropriate level
• Comprehensive personal development programme covering safety, relationships and equality and diversity
• Wide range of clubs, choir, school council and pupil leadership roles
• Recent improvement in pupils' attendance
• Trust provides strong support and additional leadership capacity
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum in some key stage 1 and 2 subjects does not build coherently on pupils' prior knowledge
• Some pupils lack the foundational knowledge needed for new learning
• Teaching quality is inconsistent in key stage 1 and 2
• Activities are sometimes not well matched to pupils' needs, including pupils with SEND
• Some pupils do not gain a coherent body of knowledge
• Extra reading support is not always precisely focused on pupils' specific reading needs
• Some pupils do not catch up quickly enough in reading
• Persistent absence remains high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils
• Professional development has not yet had the desired impact on teaching quality
• Attainment of many pupils at key stage 2 remains low
• Leadership and management require improvement

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 Marys Church of England Primary Academy attended 90.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 31.0% 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, 6.8% of pupils at St Marys Church of England Primary 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 Marys Church of England Primary Academy had 22.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.9% 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, 23.6% of pupils at St Marys Church of England Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.0% 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 Marys Church of England Primary Academy received £7,938 and spent £8,571 for each of its 219 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £155,000 (-£708 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Collaborative Learning Trust, income was £7,473 and spending £7,337 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 Leeds · Leeds local authority: places and applications

St Marys Church of England Primary Academy is part of Collaborative Learning Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Bramhope Primary School Leeds
• Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy Leeds
• All Saints CofE Primary School Bradford
• St. Oswald's CofE Primary School Leeds
• Otley Prince Henry's Grammar School Specialist Language College Otley
• Otley the Whartons Primary School Otley
• Ashfield Primary School Otley
• Trinity All Saints CofE VA Primary School Bingley

What is St Marys Church of England Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Marys Church of England Primary Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in October 2024.

When was St Marys Church of England Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Marys Church of England Primary Academy was last inspected in October 2024.

How many pupils does St Marys Church of England Primary Academy have?

St Marys Church of England Primary Academy has 199 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Marys Church of England Primary Academy cover?

St Marys Church of England Primary Academy for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are St Marys Church of England Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Marys Church of England Primary Academy?

St Marys Church of England Primary Academy is at Church Street, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS10 2QY.