St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard Castle

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard Castle at a glance

Located in Barnard Castle, County Durham, St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard Castle is a primary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Roman Catholic religious character. The school educates roughly 100 pupils aged 3 to 11. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent Key Stage 2 SATs, 81% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — well above the national average of 61%. That marks an improvement of 6.0 percentage points in the proportion reaching the expected standard on the previous year, though small year groups can make these figures swing sharply from year to year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it among the top 2% of primary schools in England.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 111 in reading and 109 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 31% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard Castle was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 11 families who put it first were offered a place. Overall pupil absence was 3.9%. There are about 19.8 pupils per teacher. When comparing schools, it is still worth visiting in person to see whether the atmosphere and approach suit your child. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.