Ofsted: Inadequate trending_up Places Available emoji_events #441 in Lancashire public Top 100% UK

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Claire Mills

corporate_fareROMERO CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST

location_onBacup, OL13 9LJ

language Visit Website phone 1706873123

verified

Ofsted

Inadequate

Inspected 2024

groups

Students

167

school

Expected Standard

15%

local_fire_department

Demand Ratio

1.0x

summarize

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy is a Academy sponsor led primary school in Bacup, serving ages 3-11. Currently rated Inadequate by Ofsted. Ranks in the top 100% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy is an academy sponsor led in Bacup, Lancashire, admitting pupils aged 3-11. It is part of ROMERO CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST. The school has approximately 140 pupils on roll, of whom 76% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 15% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined. The school ranks #441 of 444 primaries in Lancashire and #14,085 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2024. The school's current overall rating is Inadequate. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Requires improvement, behaviour and attitudes Inadequate, personal development Requires improvement, and leadership and management Inadequate.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 1.0× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 13.6:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there was 1 permanent exclusion. The average suspension rate was 30.5 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

15%

LA 59%

Reading48% LA 73%

Writing30% LA 69%

Maths30% LA 72%

Read SS

Maths SS

GPS SS

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

37%

LA 58%England 61%

Reading53% LA 73% · Eng 74%

Writing63% LA 70% · Eng 72%

Maths42% LA 71% · Eng 73%

Read SS

100

Maths SS

GPS SS

102

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

32%

LA 58%England 60%

Reading47% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing53% LA 71% · Eng 71%

Maths32% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Read SS

100

Maths SS

GPS SS

Progress (0 = national avg)

-2.7

Read

LA -0.2

-5.7 to 0.3

-1.2

Write

LA 0.1

-4.0 to 1.7

-5.4

Maths

LA -0.3

-8.2 to -2.6

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

LA 64%England 65%

Reading-% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing-% LA 77% · Eng 78%

Maths-% LA 77% · Eng 79%

Read SS

Maths SS

GPS SS

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

LA -0.2

Write

LA 0.1

Maths

LA -0.2

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

08 May 2025

Inspection Report

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18 December 2024

Inspection Report

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16 April 2024

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2024-04-16

Academy First Section 5 EIF

Inadequate

Education

Requires improvement

Behaviour

Inadequate

Development

Requires improvement

Leadership

Inadequate

2018-10-02

Serious Weaknesses S5 Reinspection EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2016-06-21

None EIF

Inadequate

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

gavel

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

49.3%per term

warning Above Average

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

19.3%(27 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 140 pupils. During this period, there were 69 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 49.3%, which is above the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg	Perm. Excl.
2024/25 (Spring term)	140	69	49.3%	0.8%	0
2024/25 (Autumn term)	136	16	11.8%	0.9%	1
2023/24 (Summer term)	154	43	27.9%	0.8%	0
2023/24 (Spring term)	153	11	7.2%	0.7%	0
2023/24 (Autumn term)	145	7	4.8%	0.8%	1
2022/23 (Summer term)	163	17	10.4%	0.7%	0
2022/23 (Spring term)	167	6	3.6%	0.6%	0
2022/23 (Autumn term)	165	4	2.4%	0.6%	0
2021/22 (Summer term)	177	4	2.3%	0.5%	0
2021/22 (Spring term)	177	5	2.8%	0.5%	1
2021/22 (Autumn term)	167	3	1.8%	0.5%	0
2020/21 (Summer term)	182	1	0.5%	0.4%	0
2020/21 (Spring term)	171	2	1.2%	0.1%	0
2020/21 (Autumn term)	164	8	4.9%	0.4%	1
2019/20 (Summer term)	179	0	0.0%	0.0%	0
2019/20 (Spring term)	179	5	2.8%	0.4%	0
2019/20 (Autumn term)	0	1	-	0.6%	0

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Speech, Language & Communication 19 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 6 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 3 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 3 pupils

Visual Impairment 1 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 1 pupils

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St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

School Summary

Academic Performance

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Inspection History

Admissions Insight

How Places Are Allocated

Faith Priority (Roman Catholic)

Distance to School

School Capacity

Primary Admission Trends

Students & School Environment

School Size

Language Diversity

Inclusive Support

Attendance

Ethnicity Breakdown

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Funding & Staffing

School Funding Allocation

Funding Breakdown

Staffing

Teacher Turnover

Top Primary Schools in Lancashire

Stanah Primary School

Helmshore Primary School

Lomeshaye Junior School

St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Preston

Burnley Stoneyholme Community Primary School

St James-the-Less Roman Catholic Primary School, Rawtenstall