St Mary's Catholic Primary School

St Mary's Catholic Primary School demonstrates strong performance in several areas, particularly in its personal development and wellbeing provision, which is rich and well-structured. Pupils feel supported and safe, benefiting from a broad curriculum that prepares them for life as engaged citizens. However, despite these strengths, published outcomes at key stage 2 do not fully reflect the progress of pupils due to varying cohort sizes and significant barriers experienced by some students. Attendance is above the national average, which highlights the school's commitment to engagement and support for families to address attendance concerns.

Strengths

• Strong personal development and wellbeing support for all pupils
• High levels of pastoral care and effective relationships within the school
• Ambitious and broad curriculum designed to build on prior knowledge
• Effective monitoring and support for attendance improvement
• Inclusive culture that effectively meets the needs of students with SEND

Areas for Improvement

• Minority of pupils struggle with writing fluency and clarity
• Some misconceptions in learning are not corrected promptly
• Gaps in writing and language knowledge of disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are not sufficiently addressed

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 Mary's Catholic Primary School attended 96.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.7% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic Primary School 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School had 31.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2023–24, 8.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 17.1%).

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, 18.8% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School received £9,703 and spent £7,279 for each of its 164 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £444,000 (£2,709 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 Chippenham · Wiltshire local authority: places and applications

St Mary's Catholic Primary School is part of The Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School Calne
• St John's Catholic Primary School Bath
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Bath
• St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome Frome
• St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Radstock
• Christ The King Catholic School, Amesbury Amesbury
• St Joseph and St Teresa Catholic Primary School Wells
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary Wincanton
• Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Weston-Super-Mare
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary and Nursery School Burnham-On-Sea

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Catholic Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in March 2026.

When was St Mary's Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in March 2026.

How many pupils does St Mary's Catholic Primary School have?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School has 165 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Catholic Primary School cover?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's Catholic Primary School?

St Mary's Catholic Primary School is at Rowden Hill, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 2AH.