Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

About Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School in Leeds was rated Good overall in its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022, a clear step up from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2018. The inspection gave Good marks across the board — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision all scored a 2. On the most informative exam metric available, Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 academic year show that 49% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is notably below the Leeds local authority average of 61%, and it places the school 159th out of 204 primary schools in the area, in the bottom 50% nationally. Individual subject scores tell a more mixed story: 78% hit the expected standard in reading and 66% in maths, but writing lagged at 58%, and no pupils achieved the higher standard in writing or the combined measure.

Digging deeper into the KS2 data, average scores were 104 in reading and 102 in maths, both just above the national benchmark of 100, suggesting solid foundations even if the combined headline figure looks weaker. The school's ranking score of 49 out of 100 reflects that combined expected standard metric, and it sits in the bottom tier nationally. That said, the Ofsted report from 2022 noted improvements across the board since the previous inspection, and the Good rating for quality of education suggests teaching and curriculum are on the right track. With 42.8% of pupils eligible for free school meals — well above the national average — the school serves a relatively disadvantaged community, which provides important context for its academic outcomes. The school has a Church of England religious character and is led by headteacher Naomi Wood, who took over at some point after the 2018 inspection.

The school is oversubscribed for Reception places in 2025/26, with 119 applications for 44 places and 43 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.7. It has a nursery provision for two-year-olds, and caters for children from age 2 to 11. Facilities include a sports hall, ICT suite, art studios, dining hall and a chapel, and the school runs clubs covering science, coding, drama, eco, film and chess. Sports on offer are cricket, athletics, rounders and netball. The SEND provision is comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that has improved its Ofsted rating and serves a diverse community, but parents focused on top-tier academic outcomes may want to look at higher-performing local options like Harewood or Shadwell primary schools.

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