St Bede's Catholic Primary School

About St Bede's Catholic Primary School

Parents who have responded to Ofsted’s Parent View survey are overwhelmingly positive about St Bede’s Catholic Primary School. Every single respondent – 100 per cent – said they would recommend the school to other parents, based on responses collected between September 2024 and September 2025. That enthusiasm is backed up by strong feelings on specific areas: 82 per cent strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and the same proportion strongly agreed that their child feels safe. Behaviour is another clear strength, with 94 per cent either agreeing or strongly agreeing that the school ensures pupils are well behaved. The school is also popular locally. For the 2025/26 academic year, St Bede’s received 41 applications for its 26 Reception places, making it oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.58 applicants per place. Twenty-five of those applications were first-preference choices, and all 25 were offered a place. The school has a Roman Catholic religious character and serves children aged 3 to 11, with a nursery on site.

Academically, St Bede’s is currently rated as Requires Improvement overall by Ofsted following its February 2025 inspection, though the picture is more mixed than that single label suggests. The inspection judged early years provision, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management all as Good. Only the quality of education was rated as Requires improvement. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 40 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined – below the Cumberland local authority average of 54 per cent. The school’s average scores in reading (102) and maths (103) were both slightly above the national baseline of 100, but the proportion reaching the higher standard in all three subjects was just 7 per cent. In the local authority rankings, St Bede’s sits 87th out of 144 primary schools of the same type, placing it in the bottom half of Cumberland primaries.

The school offers a decent range of facilities and activities that families might find appealing. On site there is a Forest School area, a library, art studios, music rooms, a dining hall and a chapel. Sports provision includes cricket, dance, gymnastics, cross country, tennis, rounders and athletics, while clubs cover coding, book club and science club. For children with additional needs, St Bede’s lists SEND support for specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. The school has capacity for 240 pupils and currently has 222 on roll, so there is some headroom. Given the strong parent satisfaction scores and the oversubscription, this is a school that clearly works well for many local families, particularly those who value a Catholic ethos and a focus on pastoral care, even if academic outcomes are currently below the local average.

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