St Vincents Catholic Primary School, Newcastle

About St Vincents Catholic Primary School, Newcastle

If you're a parent in Newcastle upon Tyne looking at St Vincents Catholic Primary School, the first thing you'll notice is that it's a school other families are actively trying to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 70 applications for just 30 places, giving it an oversubscription ratio of 2.33. That means for every place, more than two families applied, and even among first-preference applications, there were 34 for those 30 spots. It's a clear signal that local parents rate it highly. The school is a state-funded Roman Catholic primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 4 to 11, led by headteacher Angela Ness. With 209 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, it's essentially full. The pupil body is notably diverse in terms of disadvantage: 63.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, a figure well above the national average, which adds useful context when looking at the school's academic results.

Academically, St Vincents punches well above its weight. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 89% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That's a huge 26 percentage points above the local authority average of 63%, and it places the school 2nd out of 55 primary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne. Nationally, it sits in the top 3% of all primary schools for this measure. Looking at individual subjects, reading scores are particularly strong: 96% of pupils hit the expected standard and 32% reached the higher standard. Maths is similarly solid, with an average scaled score of 108 and 89% reaching the expected level. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Good overall, with behaviour and attitudes judged Outstanding. Compared with its previous inspection in 2016, the school has maintained its Good rating while improving early years provision from Requires Improvement to Good.

The school offers a solid range of facilities for a primary of its size, including a sports hall, playing fields, a forest school, music rooms, art studios, a library, a chapel and a sensory room. Clubs include eco club, gardening, art, coding and film club, while sports on offer are netball, football, athletics, cross country and cricket. For SEND, the school has specialist provision for moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is St Teresa's Catholic Primary in Heaton, 2.4 km away, so St Vincents is a strong local option for Catholic families or those who value a faith-based environment. Given its oversubscription, applying as a first preference is essential, and families should be prepared for a competitive admissions process.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About St Vincents Catholic Primary School, Newcastle

Helpful Guides for Parents