St Mary's Catholic Primary School

About St Mary's Catholic Primary School

St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Medway holds a Good rating from its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023, a grade it has maintained consistently across both its recent inspections. The most telling academic metric for this primary school is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at Key Stage 2, which stands at 61%. That figure is just one percentage point below the Medway local authority average of 62%, placing the school squarely in the middle of the pack locally. In the Medway rankings, St Mary's sits at 34th out of 55 primary schools on this measure, putting it in the bottom half of the authority. Nationally, it ranks 7,462nd out of 13,686 primaries, which is around the 55th percentile. The school is oversubscribed — 90 families applied for 41 places in the 2025/26 intake, with 40 of those coming as first preferences — suggesting it remains a popular choice despite middling headline results.

Looking closer at the individual subject scores, the picture is more nuanced. In reading, 77% of pupils met the expected standard and the average scaled score was 106, while in maths 82% hit the expected mark with an average score of 105. Writing lagged behind, with only 66% reaching the expected level. At the higher standard, 30% of pupils achieved greater depth in maths and 28% in reading, but no pupils reached the higher threshold in writing or in the combined reading, writing and maths measure. The school's Progress 8 scores are not available, so it is hard to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. Ofsted rated behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and the quality of education all as Good, with early years provision also judged Good. The previous inspection in 2013 had rated leadership and management as Outstanding, so there has been a slight softening there, but the overall effectiveness has held steady.

St Mary's is a Roman Catholic state primary for children aged 3 to 11, with a nursery on site. It is larger than its capacity suggests — 447 pupils on roll against a capacity of 420 — and 15.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is slightly below the national average. The school offers a wide range of facilities including a gymnasium, music rooms, an ICT suite, a sports hall, a forest school area, art studios, a sensory room and a chapel. Sports on offer include gymnastics, athletics, rounders, swimming, tennis and cross country, while clubs range from drama and choir to coding and science club. The SEND provision is comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, visual impairment, autistic spectrum disorder and other difficulties. This is a school that will suit Catholic families in Medway who value a faith-based environment and want a solid, if not outstanding, academic foundation, particularly in maths and reading.

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