St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School

Bristol, City of · BS5 0TJ

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 125 pupils, 68.8% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 44.8% on SEN support Behaviour 6.8% absence rate Staff 6.8% turnover Financials £8,393 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

We haven't asked this school for its behaviour and staffing figures yet. Sign up to tell us you'd like them, and we'll email you when they arrive.

Notify me

Your email address

Leave this empty

We'll email you a link to confirm first. Your address is only used for news about this school, and every email has a link to stop them. Privacy

St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School

General Information

Address: Pennywell Road, Bristol, BS5 0TJ – View on map
Phone: 01173772260
Headteacher: Mrs Rachael James
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 14 families put it first for 14 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 1 of the 14 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2024 10 · 2025 9 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

125 pupils out of 210 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 86
% eligible for free school meals: 68.8%
Pupil mix: 9 in 10 (more mixed than the Bristol, City of average)
English as an additional language: 58% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 6.8% a year (Bristol, City of 18.3%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 100% moved to another school, 0% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 2 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

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Bristol, City of: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 2 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 6 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 2 (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 Bristol, City of, 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: 6.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 25.9%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 44.8%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 23 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 20 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 5 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

Be the first to review — win £100 of books for your school Every honest review enters you into our prize draw

Behaviour

–

Openness

–

Teaching Quality

–

School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

Headteacher Approval

–

SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

–

Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

–

Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card March 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Needs attention

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Inadequate (2022). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 33% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 28 percentage points below the Bristol, City of average (61%)
Expected standard by subject: Reading 48% · Writing 43% · Maths 57% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 52%
Average test scores: reading 99, maths 99
Based on: 21 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

This schoolBristol, City of averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2023/24 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 28 percentage points below the Bristol, City of average (61%).

Year 6 SATs: 86th of 92 junior and primary schools in the area

=83Stoke Park Primary School39%
#85Ilminster Avenue E-ACT Academy38%
#86St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School33%
#87Hannah More Primary School32%
#88St Mary Redcliffe Church of England Primary School30%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Westbury Park School91%
=2Evergreen Primary Academy89%
=2Summerhill Academy89%
#4Bishop Road Primary School86%
#5Hotwells Primary School85%
#6Elmlea Junior School83%
=7Bridge Learning Campus81%
=7Oasis Academy Bank Leaze81%
=7Ss Peter and Paul RC Primary School81%
#10Perry Court E-ACT Academy80%
#11Minerva Primary Academy79%
=12St Johns Church of England Primary School, Clifton77%
=12Stoke Bishop Church of England Primary School77%
=14Oasis Academy Marksbury Road75%
=14Southville Primary School75%
=16Ashton Vale Primary School74%
=16E-Act St Ursula's Academy74%
#18Headley Park Primary School73%
=19Bridge Farm Primary School72%
=19Cheddar Grove Primary School72%
=21Greenfield E-ACT Primary Academy71%
=21Oasis Academy New Oak71%
=23Brunel Field Primary School70%
=23St Bernard's Catholic Primary School70%
#25Holy Cross RC Primary School68%
=26Blaise Primary and Nursery School67%
=26St Teresa's Catholic Primary School67%
=28Begbrook Primary Academy66%
=28Brentry Primary School66%
=28Henleaze Junior School66%
=28St Peter's Church of England Primary School (VC)66%
=32Filton Avenue Primary School65%
=32Knowle Park Primary School65%
=32Westbury-On-Trym Church of England Academy65%
=32Wicklea Academy65%
=32Woodlands Academy65%
#37Victoria Park Primary School64%
#38Badocks Wood E-ACT Academy63%
=39Cathedral Primary School62%
=39School of Christ The King Catholic Primary62%
=41E-Act Fairlawn Primary School61%
=41Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Bristol61%
=41Sefton Park Junior School61%
=44Air Balloon Hill Primary School60%
=44Glenfrome Primary School60%
=44Henbury Court Primary Academy60%
=44May Park Primary School60%
=48Ashley Down Primary School59%
=48St Patrick's Catholic Primary School59%
=50E-Act Bannerman Road Community Academy58%
=50Upper Horfield Primary School58%
=52Ashton Gate Primary School57%
=52Four Acres Academy57%
=52Frome Vale Academy57%
=55E-Act Barton Hill Academy56%
=55St Joseph's Catholic Primary School56%
=55St Werburgh's Primary School56%
=55Two Mile Hill Primary School56%
=55West Town Lane Academy56%
=60Hillcrest Primary School55%
=60Holymead Primary School55%
#62Avanti Gardens School54%
=63Cotham Gardens Primary School53%
=63Wansdyke Primary School53%
=65Easton CofE Primary School52%
=65Whitehall Primary School52%
=67Fishponds CofE Primary School51%
=67Oasis Academy Connaught51%
#69Parson Street Primary School50%
#70Broomhill Junior School49%
=71Avonmouth Church of England Primary School and Nursery48%
=71Cabot Primary School48%
=71Waycroft Academy48%
=74Fonthill Primary Academy47%
=74Oasis Academy Long Cross47%
=74Redfield Educate Together Primary Academy47%
=74Shirehampton Primary School47%
=74St Bernadette Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School47%
#79Hareclive E-ACT Academy44%
=80Chester Park Junior School41%
=80Christ Church Church of England Primary School41%
=80Compass Point Primary School41%
=83Little Mead Primary Academy39%
=83Stoke Park Primary School39%
#85Ilminster Avenue E-ACT Academy38%
#86St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School33%
#87Hannah More Primary School32%
#88St Mary Redcliffe Church of England Primary School30%
#89Fair Furlong Primary School28%
#90Luckwell Primary School27%
#91E-Act the Kingfisher School21%
#92E-ACT Bristol Academy South15%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,393 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

12th of 85 primary schools in Bristol, City of for spending per pupil

#10Oasis Academy Long Cross£8,447
#11Holy Cross RC Primary School£8,424
#12St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School£8,393
#13Brentry Primary School£8,357
#14Upper Horfield Primary School£8,240

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Compass Point Primary School£11,144
#2Luckwell Primary School£10,513
#3Hotwells Primary School£10,165
#4Oasis Academy New Oak£9,941
#5E-Act the Kingfisher School£9,574
#6Hannah More Primary School£9,143
#7E-Act Barton Hill Academy£9,000
#8May Park Primary School£8,874
#9Evergreen Primary Academy£8,514
#10Oasis Academy Long Cross£8,447
#11Holy Cross RC Primary School£8,424
#12St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School£8,393
#13Brentry Primary School£8,357
#14Upper Horfield Primary School£8,240
#15Cabot Primary School£8,213
#16Shirehampton Primary School£8,026
#17Woodlands Academy£7,987
#18Parson Street Primary School£7,976
#19Fonthill Primary Academy£7,938
#20Stoke Park Primary School£7,881
#21Fair Furlong Primary School£7,860
#22Ilminster Avenue E-ACT Academy£7,827
#23Cotham Gardens Primary School£7,818
#24Oasis Academy Connaught£7,805
#25Henbury Court Primary Academy£7,709
#26Hareclive E-ACT Academy£7,607
#27School of Christ The King Catholic Primary£7,536
#28Oasis Academy Bank Leaze£7,490
#29Badocks Wood E-ACT Academy£7,436
#30Redfield Educate Together Primary Academy£7,398
#31Glenfrome Primary School£7,333
#32Ashton Vale Primary School£7,302
#33E-Act Fairlawn Primary School£7,210
#34E-Act Bannerman Road Community Academy£7,141
#35St Werburgh's Primary School£7,135
#36St Peter's Church of England Primary School (VC)£7,053
#37Cathedral Primary School£7,053
#38Filton Avenue Primary School£7,035
#39Four Acres Academy£7,013
#40Avonmouth Church of England Primary School and Nursery£6,945
#41Blaise Primary and Nursery School£6,886
#42Wansdyke Primary School£6,785
#43Greenfield E-ACT Primary Academy£6,769
#44Little Mead Primary Academy£6,736
#45St Patrick's Catholic Primary School£6,722
#46Two Mile Hill Primary School£6,699
#47Christ Church Church of England Primary School£6,688
#48Ss Peter and Paul RC Primary School£6,647
#49Holymead Primary School£6,563
#50St Johns Church of England Primary School, Clifton£6,528
#51Avanti Gardens School£6,528
#52Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Bristol£6,524
#53Frome Vale Academy£6,515
#54Victoria Park Primary School£6,469
#55Southville Primary School£6,442
#56Air Balloon Hill Primary School£6,379
#57St Teresa's Catholic Primary School£6,354
#58Westbury Park School£6,344
#59Knowle Park Primary School£6,305
#60Ashley Down Primary School£6,270
#61Hillcrest Primary School£6,267
#62Headley Park Primary School£6,255
#63Whitehall Primary School£6,207
#64Stoke Bishop Church of England Primary School£6,185
#65Oasis Academy Marksbury Road£6,102
#66St Joseph's Catholic Primary School£6,092
#67West Town Lane Academy£6,086
#68Minerva Primary Academy£6,083
#69Westbury-On-Trym Church of England Academy£5,976
#70Ashton Gate Primary School£5,889
#71St Bernard's Catholic Primary School£5,829
#72St Bernadette Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School£5,699
#73Begbrook Primary Academy£5,676
#74Waycroft Academy£5,578
#75Bishop Road Primary School£5,571
#76Easton CofE Primary School£5,554
#77Bridge Farm Primary School£5,470
#78Cheddar Grove Primary School£5,468
#79Perry Court E-ACT Academy£5,416
#80E-Act St Ursula's Academy£5,254
#81Nova Primary School£4,676
#82St Bonaventure's Catholic Primary School£4,514
#83St Mary Redcliffe Church of England Primary School£4,276
#84Fishponds CofE Primary School£2,836
#85Horfield Church of England Primary School£613

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

Have you rated St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School yet? Your experience helps other parents.

Rate this school