St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy

About St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy

St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy in High Peak has been rated Good across the board in its most recent Ofsted inspection from 2022, a significant improvement from its previous Inadequate rating in 2018. The school now holds Good marks for overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The most telling exam metric is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined: 71 per cent. That is comfortably above the Derbyshire local authority average of 59 per cent for primary schools, placing St Mary's 6th out of 34 schools in the High Peak area and in the top 50 per cent nationally. With only 106 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, the school is small but clearly delivering strong academic outcomes relative to its peers.

Looking closer at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, reading stands out as a particular strength. Every single pupil reached the expected standard in reading, and 41 per cent achieved the higher standard. Maths also performed well, with 76 per cent at expected and 35 per cent at the higher level, and an average scaled score of 106. Writing was slightly lower, with 71 per cent at expected and 18 per cent at the higher level. The combined expected standard of 71 per cent is a solid result for a school where 39.6 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, a figure well above the national average. Progress scores are not available in the data, but the attainment figures suggest the school is effective at moving children through the curriculum, particularly in reading where outcomes are exceptional.

The school is oversubscribed for 2025/26, with 30 applications for just 10 places and 9 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3 to 1. Facilities include a library, gymnasium, sports hall, ICT suite, forest school, outdoor playground and a chapel, plus a range of clubs from coding to choir and science. Sports on offer include cricket, gymnastics, swimming, cross country, rounders and athletics. The school supports a wide range of SEND needs, including moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health, speech language and communication, visual impairment, physical disability and other difficulties. This is a small, faith-based primary that has turned around its Ofsted rating and now delivers above-average results, making it a strong choice for families in the High Peak area who value academic rigour alongside a Catholic ethos.

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