St Catherine's RC Primary School

About St Catherine's RC Primary School

St Catherine's RC Primary School is a popular choice among Manchester families, with 132 applications for 52 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.54. Every one of those 52 first-preference applicants received an offer, which suggests strong local confidence in the school. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection, in November 2023, rated it Good across all five categories, including behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership. That's a shift from its previous inspection in 2009, when it was judged Outstanding overall, though the earlier report didn't assess several of the current categories. The school has a nursery provision for three-year-olds and serves a mixed cohort of 425 pupils, slightly above its official capacity of 420. Just over 10% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is below the national average for primary schools.

Academically, St Catherine's performs around the middle of the pack for Manchester primary schools. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 56% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, just one percentage point below the local authority average of 57%. That places the school 62nd out of 122 primaries in Manchester, and in the bottom half nationally. Looking at individual subjects, reading and maths were stronger than writing: 72% reached the expected standard in reading, and 76% in maths, compared with 61% in writing. Average scaled scores were 105 for reading and 104 for maths. No pupils achieved the higher standard in writing, while 22% did so in maths and 24% in reading. Progress scores aren't available in the data, so it's hard to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points.

The school's facilities are solid for a primary, with a library, sports hall, sensory room, ICT suite, art studios, playing fields and a chapel. There's a decent range of sports on offer, including dance, gymnastics, netball and tennis, plus clubs like drama, choir, chess, gardening and science club. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists SEND provisions covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, and physical disabilities. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Beaver Road, just 0.4 km away, so parents in this catchment have a strong alternative nearby. St Catherine's will suit families who want a faith-based Roman Catholic primary with good behaviour standards, a broad club offer, and a realistic chance of getting a place if they apply as a first preference.

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