St Mary Magdalen's Catholic Primary School

About St Mary Magdalen's Catholic Primary School

St Mary Magdalen's Catholic Primary School is a state-funded, mixed primary in County Durham, serving 306 pupils aged 4 to 11. It sits within a competitive local landscape: among 208 primary schools in the local authority, it ranks 24th, placing it comfortably in the top 25 per cent. Its nearest peers at the top of the County Durham table include Montalbo Nursery & Primary School, Cestria Primary School, and Shincliffe CofE (Controlled) Primary School. The school has a Roman Catholic character and is led by headteacher Andrea Goodwin. It is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, with 75 applications for 45 places and 44 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.67. That level of demand suggests a strong local reputation. The school is not a boarding school, has no sixth form, and does not offer nursery provision, so it focuses entirely on its primary-age cohort.

Academically, the school performs well above the local authority average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 79 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a County Durham average of 62 per cent. The school’s ranking score of 79 places it 23rd out of 170 primaries in the LA, and 90th out of 677 in the North East region. In individual subjects, 86 per cent met the expected standard in maths, 81 per cent in reading and 81 per cent in writing. Higher-standard attainment was strongest in reading, where 40 per cent of pupils achieved the higher benchmark, followed by maths at 28 per cent and writing at 19 per cent. Average scaled scores were 106 in both reading and maths. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in March 2025, found that it had improved significantly since its previous graded inspection in 2013, when it was rated Requires Improvement. It now holds a Good rating overall, with Good for both leadership and management and quality of education.

Parents are overwhelmingly positive. In the Parent View survey covering September 2024 to September 2025, 98 per cent of the 51 respondents would recommend the school. Strong agreement was high across most measures: 82 per cent strongly agreed their child feels safe, 82 per cent strongly agreed behaviour is good, and 76 per cent strongly agreed their child is happy and does well. The school’s facilities include an ICT suite, sensory room, forest school, sports hall, gymnasium, music rooms and a chapel. It offers a range of sports including football, cricket, netball and swimming, plus clubs such as film, eco and gardening. SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication, and autistic spectrum disorder. This combination of strong academic outcomes, high parental satisfaction and targeted support makes the school a strong fit for Catholic families in County Durham seeking a well-regarded local primary with a clear focus on core skills and personal development.

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