St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Newcastle

About St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Newcastle

St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Newcastle, sits in the bottom half of primary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne when it comes to the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That figure stands at 48%, compared with a local authority average of 63% for all primary schools. The gap is significant, and it places the school 47th out of 55 primaries in the borough. However, this headline number doesn't tell the whole story. The school serves a community with a high level of disadvantage — 34.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average — and its results need to be read in that context. The school's overall Ofsted rating is Good, a grade it has held consistently across its two most recent inspections, including the most recent graded inspection in March 2024.

Looking more closely at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, the picture is mixed. In reading, 68% of pupils met the expected standard, and the average scaled score was 102 — both broadly in line with national norms. Writing and maths were weaker: 65% reached the expected standard in writing, and just 61% in maths, where the average score was 101. At the higher standard, only 10% of pupils achieved it in reading and maths, and just 6% in writing and the combined measure. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it's hard to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. In its most recent Ofsted inspection, inspectors rated all five key areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — as Good, suggesting solid, consistent practice across the board.

St Bede's is a small, oversubscribed school with 204 pupils against a capacity of 210. For the 2025/26 intake, there were 66 applications for 30 places, with 28 first-preference offers made — a ratio of 2.2 applicants per place. The school has a Roman Catholic character, which will shape its admissions criteria. Facilities include a chapel, music rooms, art studios, an ICT suite and an outdoor playground. Sports on offer include football, cricket, rounders and swimming, and there is a good range of clubs from chess and coding to drama and film club. The school's SEND provisions are broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder and social, emotional and mental health support. This is a school that works hard for its community, but parents should weigh the below-average attainment figures against the high level of pupil disadvantage when making their decision.

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