St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston

St Teresa's Catholic Primary School is a warm, caring and inclusive school where pupils feel safe and are proud to attend. Behaviour is typically positive, bullying is rare, and leaders have created a strong pastoral and enrichment offer. The school has had significant leadership and status change, becoming an academy converter in December 2022, with the current headteacher starting in September 2024; it serves a context with well-above-average deprivation and free school meals. Leadership and governance are effective and evaluative, attendance is improving, and support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils is a notable strength.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe, are proud of their school and behave positively and considerately.
• Bullying and discrimination incidents are very rare and leaders act swiftly when issues arise.
• Leaders have improved attendance and reduced persistent absence over time.
• Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is effective and tailored.
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve broadly in line with similar pupils nationally.
• Leadership and governance are evaluative and focused on priorities that make the greatest difference.
• Staff are highly positive about the school and value leaders' consideration of wellbeing and workload.
• The personal development offer is broad and includes enrichment, character development and pastoral support.
• Enrichment opportunities are accessible to all pupils, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils learn about diversity and celebrate the school's multicultural population.
• Children in the early years are well cared for, happy and develop independence and social skills.
• Leaders build warm, trusting relationships with parents and carers to support families.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve well enough in some curriculum areas, including those with national tests.
• Key stage 2 outcomes are below national averages, particularly in mathematics and writing fundamentals such as spelling and grammar.
• Curriculum delivery is inconsistent, and activities do not always help pupils know and remember key information.
• Checks on learning are not used consistently well to identify gaps and address misconceptions quickly.
• Some pupils carry gaps in basic writing and mathematical knowledge over time.
• The early years curriculum does not clearly identify the important information children need to learn.
• Early years staff do not routinely use high-quality interactions to develop children's language and vocabulary.
• Some children in the early years are not sufficiently prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils' understanding of different forms of discrimination is less secure than other aspects of personal development.
• Attendance remains slightly below the national average, and persistent absence is still above the national average.

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 Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston attended 92.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 25.7% 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, 2.9% of pupils at St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston had 25.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.0% 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, 31.3% of pupils at St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% 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 Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston received £8,601 and spent £7,692 for each of its 195 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £221,000 (£1,135 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Mater Ecclesiae Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £6,871 and spending £6,690 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 Preston · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston is part of Mater Ecclesiae Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• The Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Ignatius' Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• Christ The King Catholic High School Preston
• St Maria Goretti Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Clare's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Anthony's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston

What is St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston is Needs attention, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston last inspected by Ofsted?

St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston have?

St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston has 214 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston cover?

St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston?

St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston is at Downing Street, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 4RH.