St Mary's RC Primary School

About St Mary's RC Primary School

St Mary's RC Primary School in Tameside holds a Good rating from its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2024, a change from its previous Outstanding grade in 2013. The inspection judged all areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — as Good. On the key academic measure for primary schools, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined (the RWM metric) stood at 63% in the 2023/24 academic year. That is just above the Tameside local authority average of 62%, placing the school 28th out of 57 primary schools in the borough. Its national percentile ranking sits around the midpoint, suggesting a solid, broadly average performance relative to schools across England.

Digging into the individual subject scores, reading is a clear strength. 90% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, with an average scaled score of 108, and 40% achieved the higher standard. Writing and maths saw 73% of pupils reach the expected level in each, with maths averaging a score of 103. The proportion reaching the higher standard in both writing and the combined RWM measure was 7%, while 17% hit the higher bar in maths. The school's ranking score of 63 places it in the top 50% of schools nationally, and within the North West region it sits at the 47th percentile. For context, the top-performing primary in Tameside, Broadbottom Church of England Primary School, achieved a ranking score of 100, while St Raphael's Catholic Primary scored 92.

The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 admissions, there were 67 applications for 27 places, with 32 first-preference applications. It is a Roman Catholic state primary for mixed pupils aged 3 to 11, with nursery provision on site. Facilities include a sports hall, gymnasium, ICT suite, music rooms, art studios and a chapel. SEND support covers specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. Parent views from a recent survey were overwhelmingly positive: 94% would recommend the school, 97% agreed their child is happy, and 96% felt their child is safe. However, a quarter of respondents disagreed that the school lets them know how their child is doing, and a similar proportion disagreed that concerns are dealt with properly. This is a school that suits families prioritising a faith-based environment with strong reading outcomes and a broad range of clubs including science, eco, book club and choir.

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