St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Horsforth

About St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Horsforth

St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Horsforth was rated Outstanding across every category in its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2024, a grade it has now held consistently across two inspections. The school's academic story is best told through its Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 year, where 70% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That figure sits comfortably above the Leeds local authority average of 61% for the same measure. In reading, 90% of pupils met the expected standard and 37% reached the higher standard, while in maths the equivalent figures were 87% and 40% respectively. The school's average reading score of 109 and maths score of 106 both point to strong outcomes. Nationally, St Mary's ranks in the top third of all primary schools on the combined expected standard metric, and within Leeds it sits 62nd out of 204 schools, placing it in the top half of the local authority.

Digging deeper into the Ofsted breakdown, inspectors awarded Grade 1 (Outstanding) for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The school's previous inspection in 2013 also rated it Outstanding overall, so this is a sustained track record rather than a one-off. With 211 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, the school is essentially full. Just 5.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is below the national average and reflects the relatively affluent catchment. The school's Progress 8 scores are not available in the data, but the strong attainment outcomes suggest pupils are performing well against national benchmarks. The school's ranking score of 70 on the combined expected standard metric places it just outside the top 50 in Leeds, with nearby peers including Harewood Church of England and Shadwell Primary Schools both scoring 90.

The school offers a range of facilities including a library, forest school area, outdoor playground, ICT suite, sensory room, gymnasium and a chapel. Sports provision covers rounders, dance, athletics and cross country, while clubs include coding, drama, film club and choir. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists specific provisions for dyslexia, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication difficulties, and autistic spectrum disorder. Admission data for the 2025/26 intake shows the school is heavily oversubscribed: 113 applications for 24 places, with 19 first preference offers made. That works out at 4.71 applications per place, so families living within the Roman Catholic catchment area will need to be strategic. The nearest other Outstanding-rated primary is Horsforth Featherbank, just one kilometre away, which gives local families another strong option to consider.

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