St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Whitstable

About St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Whitstable

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Whitstable, was rated Good in its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2015, and a subsequent ungraded inspection in 2023 confirmed the school remains Good. The inspection report specifically rated leadership and management, early years provision, and overall effectiveness as Good. This marks a clear improvement from the school's previous graded inspection in 2013, when it was rated Requires Improvement. On the key academic metric for primary schools, 72% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year. That figure sits comfortably above the Kent local authority average of 63% for the same measure, placing the school 5th out of 30 primary schools in the Canterbury district and in the top 17% nationally. The school's average scaled scores were 106 in reading and 104 in maths, both above the national benchmark of 100.

Looking more closely at the subject-level results, 85% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, 87% in writing, and 74% in maths. At the higher standard, 33% achieved greater depth in reading, 21% in maths, and 18% in writing, while 10% of pupils reached the higher standard across all three subjects. The school's overall ranking score of 72 places it in the top 50 tier nationally, and it ranks 469th out of 2,034 primary schools in the South East region. While the school does not have published progress scores for reading, writing or maths, the attainment data suggests pupils are performing well above the local norm. The school's Ofsted report noted that early years provision is Good, and the school has maintained its Good rating across both its recent inspections, indicating consistent leadership under headteacher Michele Blunt.

The school is heavily oversubscribed for Reception entry in 2025/26, with 64 applications for just 30 places and 27 offers made to first-preference applicants. This gives an oversubscription ratio of 2.13, meaning more than two families apply for every place. The school serves 311 pupils against a capacity of 420, and 16.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Facilities include a chapel, library, sports hall, playing fields, art studios, ICT suite, and gymnasium. Sports offered include cricket, tennis, gymnastics and athletics, while clubs range from eco club and gardening to coding, drama and science club. The school has dedicated SEND provision for autistic spectrum disorder, speech, language and communication needs, and social, emotional and mental health support. For families seeking a Catholic primary with strong academic outcomes and a clear faith character, this is a popular choice in Whitstable, though securing a place is competitive.

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