St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School, Bracknell

About St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School, Bracknell

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School in Bracknell is a school that local families clearly want to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, it received 68 applications for just 30 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.27. Of those applications, 29 were first-preference choices, and 27 of those families were offered a place. That level of demand suggests a strong reputation among parents in the area, though it is worth noting that the school does not publish a formal parent-view survey result, so we cannot report a specific recommend percentage. The school is a Roman Catholic state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 4 to 11, with a headteacher named Anne Mulholland. It is a relatively small school, with 206 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, and 7.8 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is below the national average.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2023 confirmed it remains Good, a rating it has held consistently across its previous graded inspections. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 55 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is below the Bracknell Forest local authority average of 63 per cent, and places the school 19th out of 23 primary schools in the borough, in the bottom 50 per cent nationally. However, individual subject scores tell a more nuanced story: 77 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in reading, and 71 per cent in writing, while maths was lower at 61 per cent. The average scaled scores were 105 in reading and 103 in maths. At the higher standard, 19 per cent achieved in maths, 16 per cent in reading and 10 per cent in writing, but only 3 per cent reached the higher bar across all three subjects.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a chapel, music rooms, a gymnasium, sports hall, ICT suite and playing fields, plus clubs such as coding, drama, choir, eco club, book club and chess. Sports on offer include athletics, rounders, football and cross country. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech, language and communication needs, social, emotional and mental health needs, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. The school is oversubscribed, so families applying will need to be aware of the admissions criteria, which prioritise Catholic children. This is a school that suits families who value a faith-based primary education in a small, close-knit setting, but who are also realistic about its academic standing relative to other local primaries.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School, Bracknell

Helpful Guides for Parents