St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill
General Information
- Address: Pemberton Road, Blackhill, Consett, DH8 8JD – View on map
- Phone: 01207502657
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Victoria Ramshaw
- Age range: 5-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 26 families put it first for 26 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 11 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 20
- % eligible for free school meals: 9.9%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 17.6% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 24% moved to another school, 76% 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: 3.7%
- Persistently absent pupils: 6.7%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 12.9%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.0%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Moderate learning difficulty: 11 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 8 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
- Vision impairment: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2024 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 67% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 7% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 5 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 60% against an expected 67%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 60%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 78% · Writing 67% · Maths 81% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 78%
- Average test scores: reading 106, maths 104
- Based on: 27 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 71st of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- =71St Chad's Catholic Primary School, Witton Park67%
- =71St John's Church of England Aided Primary School, Shildon67%
- =71St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill67%
- =71St Michael's Church of England Primary School67%
- =71St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Langley Moor67%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
103rd of 141 primary schools in County Durham for Ofsted rating
- #101St Joseph's Catholic Primary, StanleyGood
- #102St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard CastleGood
- #103St Mary's Catholic Primary School, BlackhillGood
- #104St Mary's Catholic Primary School, South MoorGood
- #105St Marys Catholic Primary School, WingateGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £5,637 (2024-25)
182nd of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #180St Charles' Catholic Primary School, Tudhoe£5,837
- #181St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Chester-Le-Street£5,744
- #182St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill£5,637
- #183New Seaham Academy£5,543
- #184Woodhouse Primary Academy£5,399
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)