St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy

St Robert’s Catholic Primary School is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across multiple domains. The school provides a welcoming and inclusive environment, where staff are committed to fostering the well-being and learning of each pupil. There is a strong emphasis on the school's Catholic values, which is reflected in the community's acts of kindness and the support offered to pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, the school faces challenges in its early years provision, struggling to adequately prepare children for Year 1, particularly in literacy and communication skills. Although the quality of education is rated as good, there are specific areas for development. The school's curriculum is ambitious, and significant improvements have been noted in reading instruction. Nonetheless, some pupils, especially those with weaker phonics knowledge, are sometimes given tasks that are too challenging, which can hinder their progress. Additionally, the increasing number of pupils who speak English as an additional language presents a further challenge that the school is beginning to address but has yet to fully implement effective support strategies.

Strengths

• Strong commitment from staff to the well-being of pupils.
• Emphasis on Catholic values reflected in the school's community.
• Effective safeguarding measures in place.
• High priority given to reading, with engaging learning approaches.
• Good integration support for new pupils, particularly those from diverse backgrounds.
• Strong support for early career teachers leading to good progress.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years provision requires improvement with literacy and communication not sufficiently developed.
• Some pupils struggle due to inappropriate phonics instruction levels.
• Lack of effective strategies for supporting pupils who speak English as an additional language.

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 Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.5% 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 Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary 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 Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy had 23.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.2% 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, 14.8% of pupils at St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.9% 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 Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy received £6,688 and spent £6,291 for each of its 285 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £30,000 (£107 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust, income was £6,980 and spending £7,208 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 Harrogate · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy is part of The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy Harrogate
• St John Fisher Catholic Academy Harrogate
• St Mary's Primary School Knaresborough, A Voluntary Catholic Academy Knaresborough
• St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Ripon
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Otley Otley
• Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy Leeds
• St. Mary's Menston, a Catholic Voluntary Academy Ilkley
• Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Leeds
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Horsforth Leeds
• The Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Ilkley

What is St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy is Good, from an inspection in December 2023.

When was St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy was last inspected in December 2023.

How many pupils does St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy have?

St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy has 270 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy cover?

St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 62% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy?

St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy is at Ainsty Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 4AP.