St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle

St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School is a welcoming, family-like school where pupils are happy, feel safe and typically behave well. Inspectors found personal development to be a clear strength: pupils take on leadership roles, contribute to the local community and benefit from a well-planned programme and a wide range of trips. Safeguarding is effective, attendance is pursued tenaciously, and older pupils in particular learn without distraction and show respect. The school has also had success in developing a love of reading, especially in key stage 2. However, the quality of education is inadequate. In many subjects and in the early years, the curriculum does not set out the important knowledge pupils should learn and when, leaving teachers to decide content themselves. Teachers lack the training and expertise to deliver the curriculum clearly, assessment is weak, and gaps in pupils’ knowledge often go unchecked. Early reading and phonics are not effective: children start phonics late in Reception, support for those who fall behind is often ineffective, and many pupils are not fluent readers by the end of Year 2. Pupils with SEND are accurately identified but do not consistently receive teaching adapted to their needs, and early years provision lacks structure and routine. Leadership and management are inadequate. The trust and governors failed to identify the decline in quality, low ambition has become embedded, and capacity to improve is weak. The school has been judged to require special measures. This was its first section 5 inspection since it became an academy in 2021 as part of the Mater Christi Multi-Academy Trust; its predecessor school had previously been judged good.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and describe the school as a welcoming family.
• Pupils typically behave well, with positive staff-pupil relationships.
• Personal development is well fostered through pupil leadership roles, community activities and trips.
• Pupils have a firm understanding of respect and tolerance and learn about well-being and healthy lifestyles.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Attendance is tackled tenaciously through partnership with families and external agencies.
• Older pupils learn without distraction and are respectful towards staff and visitors.
• The school has been successful in developing a love of reading, especially in key stage 2.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and value efforts to reduce workload and support well-being.
• Pupils with very complex needs are well cared for.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum in many subjects and the early years is not well designed or sequenced.
• Teachers lack the subject knowledge, training and expertise to deliver the curriculum clearly.
• Assessment is used poorly, so gaps and misconceptions in pupils’ learning go unidentified.
• Early reading and phonics are ineffective, with late phonics start and weak support for struggling readers.
• Many pupils are not fluent, confident readers by the end of Year 2.
• Pupils with SEND do not consistently receive teaching and resources adapted to their needs.
• Early years provision lacks structure and routine, leading to interrupted learning.
• Expectations for pupils’ achievement are low, and pupils underachieve across year groups and subjects.
• The trust and governors failed to identify the decline in quality and did not challenge the school.
• Leadership capacity to improve is weak, and improvement has been slow and lacking urgency.
• Behaviour in the early years is not as positive as elsewhere.
• HMCI strongly recommends that the school does not seek to appoint early career teachers.

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 Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.6% 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, 4.3% of pupils at St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle 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 Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.2% 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, 15.2% of pupils at St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.0% 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 Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle received £8,179 and spent £9,296 for each of its 225 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £5,000 (-£21 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of Mater Christi Multi-Academy Trust, income was £8,234 and spending £8,275 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 Carlisle · Cumberland local authority: places and applications

St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle is part of Mater Christi Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

• St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Carlisle Carlisle
• St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School Wigton
• St Catherine's Catholic Primary School, Penrith Penrith
• Our Lady and St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Maryport Maryport
• St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington Workington
• St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Workington Workington
• St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Windermere Windermere
• Dean Gibson Catholic Primary School, Kendal Kendal
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ulverston Ulverston
• Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Dalton-In-Furness Dalton-In-Furness

What is St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle is Inadequate, from an inspection in April 2026.

When was St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle last inspected by Ofsted?

St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle was last inspected in April 2026.

How many pupils does St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle have?

St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle has 217 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle cover?

St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 41% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle?

St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle is at Kirklands Road, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA2 4JD.