St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard Castle
General Information
- Address: Birch Road, Barnard Castle, DL12 8JR – View on map
- Phone: 01833637029
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Lesley Ann Box
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 22
- % eligible for free school meals: 21.8%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (similar to the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 4% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 20% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 33% moved to another school, 67% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across County Durham: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 12 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 5 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in County Durham, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 3.2%
- Persistently absent pupils: 7.8%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 27.2%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.9%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Speech, language and communications needs: 8 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 7 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 5 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2019 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 81% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 31% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 19 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (3-year average 82% against an expected 73%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 82%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 94% · Writing 88% · Maths 94% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 94%
- Average test scores: reading 111, maths 109
- Based on: 16 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: joint 20th of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- =18West Cornforth Primary School83%
- =20Red Rose Primary School81%
- =20St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard Castle81%
- =20St Michael's Catholic Primary School, Esh Village81%
- #23Nettlesworth Primary School80%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
96th of 134 primary schools in County Durham for Ofsted rating
- #94St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, MurtonGood
- #95St Joseph's Catholic Primary, StanleyGood
- #96St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard CastleGood
- #97St Mary's Catholic Primary School, BlackhillGood
- #98St Mary's Catholic Primary School, South MoorGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £6,940 (2024-25)
134th of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #132Neville's Cross Primary School and Nursery£6,964
- #133Coxhoe Primary School£6,948
- #134St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard Castle£6,940
- #135St William's Catholic Primary School£6,933
- #136Shotton Hall Primary School£6,913
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)