St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston

About St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston

St Teresa's Catholic Primary School in Preston holds a Good rating from its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2019, a clear step up from the Requires Improvement it received in 2017. The inspection report highlights Good leadership and management, and Good early years provision, suggesting the school has found its footing under headteacher James Kay. When it comes to academic outcomes, the most telling metric is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at Key Stage 2: just 37% did so in the 2023/24 academic year. That is significantly below the Lancashire local authority average of 60%, and it places the school 43rd out of 45 primary schools in Preston. Nationally, it sits in the bottom 7% of schools for this measure. The picture is mixed when you look at individual subjects: 73% of pupils met the expected standard in maths, and the average maths score was 103, but only 50% did so in writing and 63% in reading.

Digging deeper into the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, the gap between maths and literacy is striking. While 20% of pupils achieved a higher standard in maths and 20% did so in reading, only 3% reached that higher bar in writing or in the combined reading, writing and maths measure. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it is hard to say whether children are making strong gains from their starting points, but the raw attainment figures suggest the school is working against significant disadvantage: 47.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. The school has a capacity of 210 and currently has 206 pupils on roll, so it is nearly full. It was oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, with 50 applications for 21 places and 17 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.38.

For families considering St Teresa's, the school offers a distinctly Catholic character and a nursery provision for children from age three. Facilities include a chapel, a forest school area, a sports hall and an ICT suite, and there is a decent range of clubs from chess and coding to gardening and choir. The school has identified SEND provisions covering social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language difficulties, hearing impairment and physical disability, which may be a draw for parents whose children need that support. Given the below-average academic outcomes, this is likely to be a school that suits families who prioritise a faith-based, inclusive community over raw exam results, or who are looking for a setting that actively works with children facing economic or additional learning challenges. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is The Olive School, Preston, about 3.1 km away, for those who might want to compare options.

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