St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Berwick

About St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Berwick

St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School in Berwick is a small state primary with a distinctly local feel. The school has capacity for 120 pupils but currently teaches just 79, meaning it is operating well below its potential size. This spare capacity is interesting given the strong demand signal from admissions: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 21 applications for just 7 places, an oversubscription ratio of 3 to 1. All 7 first-preference applicants were offered a place, suggesting that while competition is real, families who prioritise the school are likely to secure a spot. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 10.7%, which is below the national average for primary schools and indicates a relatively advantaged intake. The school serves children from age 3 to 9, with nursery provision available, and is a Roman Catholic school under the Northumberland local authority. Headteacher Clare McGregor leads a mixed-gender school that draws families from the Berwick area and beyond.

Academically, St Cuthberts holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement judgement in 2016. The most recent graded inspection in 2018 gave the school Good across the board, and an ungraded inspection in 2025 confirmed that standards have been maintained. The early years provision was rated Good in that 2018 inspection, though the 2025 ungraded visit did not reassess it. The school does not publish Key Stage 2 SATs results in the available data, so direct comparison with the local authority average of 56% achieving the expected standard is not possible. However, the Parent View survey, based on 43 responses, is overwhelmingly positive: 100% of parents would recommend the school, and 86% strongly agree that their child is happy and feels safe. Strong majorities also agree that the school has high expectations and that their child does well, though a small minority (7%) disagree on expectations.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a sports hall, gymnasium, library, ICT suite, and a forest school, which supports outdoor learning. Sports provision covers netball, cricket, gymnastics, athletics, rounders, tennis, and football, while clubs include drama, choir, chess, coding, art club, and eco club. SEND support is available for moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs, though the Parent View data shows no responses to the SEND-specific question, so it is hard to gauge parental satisfaction in this area. The school is oversubscribed but not prohibitively so, and its small size means children are likely to receive plenty of individual attention. It will suit families who value a faith-based primary education with a strong pastoral focus and a wide range of extracurricular opportunities, particularly those living within reach of Berwick.

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