St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool

St Bega’s Catholic Primary School is a caring and inclusive school where pupils are polite, respectful and proud of their school. Inspectors found that pupils behave well, attend regularly and benefit from an ambitious curriculum, effective support for pupils with SEND and a strong start in the early years. The school has recently made significant curriculum changes, and the new headteacher has brought stability. Staff are well supported by the Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, and leadership and governance are committed to improvement. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Pupils are polite, respectful and friendly towards each other and adults.
• Pupils behave well and meet the school’s high expectations.
• Attendance is improving, with most pupils attending regularly and on time.
• The curriculum is ambitious and well planned and sequenced.
• Pupils with SEND receive timely and effective support and achieve well.
• Children in the early years make a strong start and learn to read quickly and fluently.
• The early years environment is engaging and supports children’s independence and confidence.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular activities and leadership opportunities.
• The school develops pupils’ character and sense of citizenship through community and reflection activities.
• Leadership and governance are highly committed, and staff are proud to work at the school.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• The key stage 2 reading curriculum and some reading teaching are not consistently effective.
• Some older pupils do not secure their reading skills well enough.
• Assessment information is occasionally not used well enough to adapt the curriculum to pupils’ prior knowledge.
• In some subjects, pupils have gaps in knowledge or misconceptions that affect how well they apply new learning.

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 Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.8% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool 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 Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 31.2% 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, 21.9% of pupils at St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.0% 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 Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool received £7,484 and spent £7,926 for each of its 156 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £31,000 (£201 per pupil).

Across all 35 schools of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, income was £7,699 and spending £7,759 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 Hartlepool · Hartlepool local authority: places and applications

St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool is part of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, which runs 35 schools. The nearest others:

• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool Hartlepool
• St John Vianney Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool Hartlepool
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool Hartlepool
• St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool Hartlepool
• English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College Hartlepool
• St Teresa's Catholic Primary School Hartlepool
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Billingham
• St Michael's Catholic Academy Billingham
• Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Academy Billingham
• St Paul's Catholic Primary School Billingham

What is St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool last inspected by Ofsted?

St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool have?

St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool has 151 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool cover?

St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool?

St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool is at Thorpe Street, Hartlepool, TS24 0DX.