St Mary's Catholic Primary School

About St Mary's Catholic Primary School

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Stratford-on-Avon is a small state primary that delivers results far beyond what you’d typically expect in Warwickshire. In the most recent Key Stage 2 assessments, every single pupil reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — a perfect 100 per cent. That’s a huge gap from the Warwickshire local authority average of 62 per cent for the same measure. It’s not just about meeting the baseline either: 24 per cent of pupils achieved the higher standard across all three subjects, and average scaled scores of 113 in both reading and maths sit well above the national norm. The school ranks first out of 52 primaries in Stratford-on-Avon and 14th nationally out of 13,686 schools, placing it comfortably in the top five per cent of schools across the country. For a school with just 90 pupils and a below-average proportion of children eligible for free school meals, these outcomes are striking.

The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in March 2025 rated it Good overall, with leadership and management judged Outstanding. That’s a notable improvement from its previous graded inspection in 2012, when it was rated Requires Improvement. The ungraded visit in 2025 confirmed that standards have been maintained. Parent feedback is overwhelmingly positive: 98 per cent of respondents would recommend the school, and 99 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy here. Strong majorities also felt their child is safe, well-behaved, and that the school has high expectations. On the academic side, the school’s Progress 8 data isn’t available, but the KS2 outcomes speak for themselves. The school also offers a nursery provision, though it doesn’t have a sixth form.

St Mary’s is a Roman Catholic primary for children aged 4 to 11, and it’s clearly popular: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 32 applications for just 12 places, with 16 first-preference applications and an oversubscription ratio of 2.67. That means competition is real, and Catholic families in particular will want to get their applications in early. Facilities include a chapel, forest school, library, sports hall, gymnasium and art studios, and the school runs clubs ranging from coding and chess to gardening and choir. SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties, speech and language needs, social and emotional challenges, and autistic spectrum disorder — though parent responses on SEND support were too few to report. This is a school that suits families who value strong academic outcomes in a faith-based, community-focused setting, and who are prepared for a competitive admissions process.

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