Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary is a small academy-converter primary in the Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust. This was its first section 5 inspection, although its predecessor school had previously been judged good. Inspectors found the school is performing well in behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision, but the quality of education requires improvement because the curriculum is not yet consistently well sequenced and delivered across all subjects, particularly in mixed-age classes. Pupils are described as kind, respectful and proud of their contribution to the school and wider community. Personal development is a notable strength, with strong pastoral support, effective promotion of British values and respect for difference, and pupils who feel safe and behave well. Reading is a priority and is taught effectively, and the Reception Year curriculum is carefully sequenced and prepares children well for Year 1. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main concerns centre on foundation subjects and mixed-age classes. In some subjects, important content is not clearly sequenced, teaching is not adapted well enough to meet pupils' needs, and checks on learning do not identify gaps accurately. This means pupils do not build knowledge as securely as they should, and support for pupils with SEND is not as well considered in subjects where the curriculum is weaker. Leaders have accurately identified priorities and the trust provides strong training and support, but further work is needed to ensure pupils achieve consistently well across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils are kind, thoughtful and respectful towards each other
• Pupils learn to be active citizens and contribute to the school and local community
• Personal development provision is well thought out and includes effective pastoral support
• Pupils feel safe and trust staff to help them
• Behaviour and attitudes are good, and bullying is rare
• Pupils have a strong recall of the school's values and fundamental British values
• Reading is a priority and phonics teaching is secure
• Pupils who need additional phonics support are identified quickly and catch up
• The early years curriculum is carefully sequenced and children are well prepared for Year 1
• Leaders have accurately identified priority areas for school development
• Staff benefit from high-quality trust training
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• The curriculum is not fully sequenced in some subjects, particularly in mixed-age classes
• Important content is sometimes missed because sequencing and implementation vary too much
• Teaching is not routinely adapted well enough to meet pupils' needs in some subjects
• Checks on pupils' learning in some foundation subjects do not identify gaps well enough
• Support for pupils with SEND is not as well considered in subjects where the curriculum is weaker
• Pupils cannot always make connections between important concepts in weaker subjects

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 Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.9% 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, 1.6% of pupils at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary 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 Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary had 25.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.2% 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, 10.3% of pupils at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.7% 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 Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary received £12,600 and spent £12,053 for each of its 128 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £117,000 (-£912 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of The Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust, income was £6,402 and spending £6,277 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 Somerset · Somerset local authority: places and applications

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary is part of The Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• St Gildas Catholic Primary School Yeovil
• St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome Frome
• St Joseph and St Teresa Catholic Primary School Wells
• St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Radstock
• St John's Catholic Primary School Bath
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Bath
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Bridgwater Bridgwater
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary and Nursery School Burnham-On-Sea
• Christ The King Catholic School, Amesbury Amesbury
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Chippenham

What is Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary last inspected by Ofsted?

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary have?

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary has 107 pupils on roll.

What age range does Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary cover?

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 59% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary?

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary is at Tout Hill, Wincanton, Somerset, BA9 9DH.