St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome

St Louis Catholic Primary School is a happy, welcoming school where pupils are kind, helpful and feel safe. This was its first section 5 inspection since becoming an academy in January 2024, and it is part of The Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust. Inspectors found all key judgements - quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision - to be good, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has high expectations and has redesigned its curriculum at pace. Pupils achieve well, are well prepared for the next stage, and benefit from an ambitious curriculum with strong reading and phonics, effective SEND support, consistent behaviour expectations and a calm environment. Pupils also take part in community and charitable activities and hold leadership roles that build responsibility. Staff feel well supported, and the local governing committee understands the school's strengths and next steps. The main area for improvement is that in some subjects teachers do not check how well pupils can apply their knowledge, so pupils do not always get enough opportunities to deepen and extend their learning. For example, pupils research the Roman invasion but do not consider its impact on life in Britain in enough depth. Plans to address this are at an early stage, and the trust should ensure staff have the knowledge and skills to design tasks that allow pupils to apply and extend their knowledge.

Strengths

• Pupils are kind, helpful and live out the school mission to love, wonder and achieve together.
• The school has high expectations and an ambitious curriculum that pupils achieve well in.
• Curriculum design helps pupils build on prior knowledge and secure understanding over time.
• The reading curriculum is strong, with effective phonics and support for pupils at risk of falling behind.
• Pupils with SEND are accurately identified and well supported to learn alongside their peers.
• Staff build positive relationships with pupils, who feel safe and trust staff to help.
• Behaviour expectations are consistent, creating a calm and orderly environment from Reception.
• Pupils take part in community events, charity work and leadership roles that build character and responsibility.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Staff feel well supported through professional development, and governors understand the school's strengths and next steps.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, teachers do not check how well pupils can apply their knowledge.
• Pupils do not always have enough opportunities to deepen and extend their learning, such as considering the impact of the Roman invasion on life in Britain.
• Plans to address this are at an early stage, and the trust should ensure staff have the knowledge and skills to design tasks that allow pupils to apply and extend their knowledge.

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 Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.1% 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, 0.5% of pupils at St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome 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 Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome had 24.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 13.5% of pupils at St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome received £7,188 and spent £6,897 for each of its 186 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £282,000 (£1,516 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 Frome · Somerset local authority: places and applications

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

• St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Radstock
• St John's Catholic Primary School Bath
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Bath
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary Wincanton
• St Joseph and St Teresa Catholic Primary School Wells
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Chippenham
• Saint Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School Calne
• St Gildas Catholic Primary School Yeovil
• Christ The King Catholic School, Amesbury Amesbury
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary and Nursery School Burnham-On-Sea

What is St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome is Good, from an inspection in February 2025.

When was St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome last inspected by Ofsted?

St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome was last inspected in February 2025.

How many pupils does St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome have?

St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome has 178 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome cover?

St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome?

St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome is at Welshmill Lane, Frome, Somerset, BA11 3AP.