St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Bitteswell

About St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Bitteswell

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Bitteswell, is a small village primary that performs above the Leicestershire local authority average in key stage 2 outcomes, but its headline figure masks a more mixed picture. The school achieved a 67% expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a 62% LA average for primary schools. That puts it in the middle of the pack locally — ranked 76th out of 231 schools of the same type in the authority, and 15th out of 32 in the Harborough district. However, the school's reading results are notably stronger than its maths: 83% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, with 33% achieving the higher standard, while maths saw just 67% at expected and only 8% at the higher level. No pupils reached the higher standard in writing. The school's average reading score of 107 is solid, but the maths average of 102 is more modest.

In its most recent Ofsted inspection in January 2025, the school was rated Good across all areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This represents a change from its previous inspection in 2013, when it was judged Outstanding overall. The school is small, with 106 pupils on roll against a capacity of 105, and it is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 99 applications for just 15 places, an oversubscription ratio of 6.6 to one. Only 7.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the national average, and the school has a Church of England religious character. Parent View responses, based on 44 respondents, show 70% would recommend the school, though the data reveals some notable splits: 57% of respondents said their child has special educational needs or disabilities, and among those, only 37% agreed the school gives SEND children the support they need, with 21% strongly disagreeing.

The school offers a range of facilities including a forest school, chapel, sports hall, music rooms and an ICT suite, plus clubs such as film, gardening, art, eco, book and choir. Sports on offer include dance, cricket, rounders, gymnastics, football and cross country. SEND provisions are listed for specific learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health, speech language and communication, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that clearly appeals to local families — the high oversubscription rate suggests strong demand — but parents considering it should weigh the strong reading outcomes and Good Ofsted rating against the more mixed maths results and the significant minority of SEND parents who feel support falls short. It would suit families who value a small, church-affiliated village school with a forest school and strong extracurricular offer, particularly those whose children are strong readers.

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