Ofsted: Requires improvement trending_up Popular emoji_events #342 in Lancashire public Top 91% UK

St Matthew's Church of England Primary Academy

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

personMr Mark Mackley

corporate_fareCIDARI EDUCATION LIMITED

location_onPreston, PR1 5XB

language Visit Website phone 1772794482

verified

Ofsted

Requires improvement

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

456

school

Expected Standard

42%

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Demand Ratio

1.0x

summarize

St Matthew's Church of England Primary Academy is a Academy converter primary school in Preston, serving ages 3-11. Currently Requires Improvement according to Ofsted — the school is working to raise standards. Demand is above capacity (1.0×) — apply through your local authority on time. Ranks in the top 91% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

St Matthew's Church of England Primary Academy is an academy converter in Preston, Lancashire, admitting pupils aged 3-11. It is part of CIDARI EDUCATION LIMITED. The school has approximately 456 pupils on roll, of whom 29% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 42% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined. The school ranks #342 of 444 primaries in Lancashire and #11,726 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Requires improvement. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Requires improvement, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Good.

The school is oversubscribed — in the most recent cycle, there were 1.0× as many applications as places, making a successful application competitive.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 24.2:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.4 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

42%

LA 59%

Reading68% LA 73%

Writing44% LA 69%

Maths67% LA 72%

Read SS

104

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

38%

LA 58%England 61%

Reading50% LA 73% · Eng 74%

Writing50% LA 70% · Eng 72%

Maths50% LA 71% · Eng 73%

Read SS

100

Maths SS

GPS SS

100

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

38%

LA 58%England 60%

Reading54% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing55% LA 71% · Eng 71%

Maths54% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Read SS

101

Maths SS

101

GPS SS

102

Progress (0 = national avg)

-1.8

Read

LA -0.2

-3.5 to 0.0

-1.8

Write

LA 0.1

-3.5 to -0.1

-1.0

Maths

LA -0.3

-2.6 to 0.6

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

14 January 2025

Inspection Report

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08 February 2022

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2025-01-14

S5 Inspection EIF

Not Judged

info

Why no overall grade?

From autumn 2024, Ofsted stopped issuing a single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate). Instead, each inspection area is graded individually. This follows a major review after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. The overall effectiveness field is left as "Not judged" in the published data.

Education

Requires improvement

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Good

2017-11-28

Maintained Academy and School Short inspection EIF

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

2013-06-20

None EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

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

Suspension Rate

0.4%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

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

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.4%(2 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 456 pupils. During this period, there were 2 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.4%, which is below 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)	456	2	0.4%	0.8%	0
2024/25 (Autumn term)	449	2	0.4%	0.9%	0
2023/24 (Summer term)	466	5	1.1%	0.8%	0
2023/24 (Spring term)	468	0	0.0%	0.7%	0
2023/24 (Autumn term)	454	2	0.4%	0.8%	1
2022/23 (Summer term)	463	5	1.1%	0.7%	0
2022/23 (Spring term)	456	6	1.3%	0.6%	0
2022/23 (Autumn term)	433	3	0.7%	0.6%	0
2021/22 (Autumn term)	443	4	0.9%	0.5%	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 32 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 19 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 17 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 9 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 4 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 2 pupils

Hearing Impairment 1 pupils

Visual Impairment 1 pupils

Physical Disability 1 pupils