St Mary's Primary School, Dilwyn

About St Mary's Primary School, Dilwyn

St Mary's Primary School, Dilwyn, is a small Church of England primary in Herefordshire that punches well above its weight academically. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, every single pupil (100%) reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is a full 37 percentage points higher than the local authority average of 63% for primary schools. The school also achieved a perfect 100% at the higher standard in both reading and maths, with half of pupils reaching the higher standard in writing. This performance places St Mary's first out of 68 primary schools in Herefordshire, and in the top 0.4% nationally. For a school with just 72 pupils on roll, these results are striking and suggest a focused, high-expectation environment that delivers consistently strong outcomes across the board.

The school's most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2017 rated it Good overall, with leadership and management also judged Good. A subsequent ungraded inspection in January 2023 confirmed the school remains Good. Notably, the early years provision was rated Outstanding in that 2023 inspection, a significant improvement from its Requires Improvement rating in 2015. While the Ofsted report does not provide separate grades for quality of education or behaviour, the academic data speaks for itself. The average scaled scores in reading and maths both sit at 115, well above the national benchmark of 100. With no progress scores published, it is hard to measure how much value the school adds, but the raw attainment figures are exceptional and suggest pupils leave Year 6 very well prepared for secondary school.

St Mary's is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, it received 14 applications for just 9 places, with all 9 first-preference families offered a spot. The school offers a range of facilities including a library, ICT suite, playing fields and a chapel, and runs clubs in coding, gardening, art and science. Sports provision covers gymnastics, cross country, football, tennis, netball, cricket and rounders. The school supports pupils with specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. For families seeking a small, high-performing village primary with a Church of England character and strong academic results, St Mary's is clearly a standout choice in Herefordshire.

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