St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston

St Bede’s Catholic Primary School in Sacriston is performing well, achieving a 'Good' rating across all domains in its first inspection since converting to academy status. The school provides a safe and caring learning environment with a strong emphasis on Christian values and inclusivity. Leaders maintain high expectations for pupil behavior and conduct, resulting in minimal disruption and a calm atmosphere conducive to learning. The curriculum promotes ambitious learning goals for all pupils, including those with special educational needs, and there is a commendable focus on developing reading and mathematics skills during early years education.

Strengths

• The school has a safe and caring environment for learning.
• High expectations for pupil behavior and conduct.
• Strong emphasis on reading and mathematics, especially in early years.
• Inclusive ethos supports all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Pupils engage in a wide range of extracurricular activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent sequencing of the curriculum across some foundation subjects.
• Not all subjects have effective assessment to check pupil understanding.

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 Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston attended 96.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.6% 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, 1.1% of pupils at St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston 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 Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston had 16.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.9% 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, 20.6% of pupils at St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% 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 Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston received £8,187 and spent £11,498 for each of its 91 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £488,000 (-£5,363 per pupil).

Across all 46 schools of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, income was £7,708 and spending £7,760 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 Durham · County Durham local authority: places and applications

St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston is part of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, which runs 46 schools. The nearest others:

• St Godric's Catholic Primary School, Durham Durham
• Our Lady & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Ushaw Moor Durham
• St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham Durham
• St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Chester-Le-Street Chester Le Street
• St Michael's Catholic Primary School, Esh Village Durham
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, South Moor Stanley
• St Benet's Catholic Primary School, Ouston Chester Le Street
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary, Stanley Stanley
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Gilesgate Durham
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Langley Moor Durham

What is St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston is Good, from an inspection in November 2023.

When was St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston last inspected by Ofsted?

St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston was last inspected in November 2023.

How many pupils does St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston have?

St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston has 97 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston cover?

St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston?

St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Sacriston is at Front Street, Sacriston, Durham, County Durham, DH7 6AB.