St Mary's Catholic Primary School
High Road, Kells, Whitehaven, CA28 9PG
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mrs Susan Starkie
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lancaster
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Whitehaven and Workington
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 180
- Pupils on roll
- 195
- URN
- 112353
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 0194666356
About this school
St Mary's Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Whitehaven. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 195 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 24 | 27 | 25 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 79% | 78% | 76% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 15% | 12% |
| Expected standard in reading | 83% | 89% | 96% |
| Expected standard in maths | 83% | 81% | 84% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 83% | 74% | 88% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 108.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.70 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How St Mary's Catholic Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Cumberland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 79% | 53% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 78% | 52.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 76% | 54.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 197 |
| 2023/24 | 200 |
| 2024/25 | 190 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Mary's Catholic Primary School compares
St Mary's Catholic Primary School ranked 17th of 111 primary schools in Cumberland for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 80% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 76% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 76% | 4.4% | 27.7% | 195 | — |
| Kells Infant School | — | 4.7% | 12.7% | 130 | 0.1 miles |
| Monkwray Junior School | 41% | 5.2% | 39.7% | 109 | 0.5 miles |
| St Gregory and St Patrick's Catholic Infant School | — | 3.9% | 18.1% | 189 | 0.8 miles |
| St Begh's Catholic Junior School | 47% | 6.1% | 38.7% | 240 | 0.9 miles |
| Valley Primary School and Nursery | 36% | 6.9% | 42.5% | 286 | 1.1 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 27.71%
- English as an additional language
- 9.5%
- Overall absence
- 4.39%
- Persistent absence
- 7.48%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Kells Infant School0.1 miles
Primary · Whitehaven
-
Monkwray Junior School0.5 miles
Primary · Whitehaven
-
St Gregory and St Patrick's Catholic Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · Whitehaven
-
St Begh's Catholic Junior School0.9 miles
Primary · Whitehaven
-
Valley Primary School and Nursery1.1 miles
Primary · Whitehaven
Other schools in Whitehaven
St Mary's Catholic Primary School ranks 3rd of the 11 ranked primary schools in Whitehaven.
- Bransty Primary School Primary
- Hensingham Primary School Primary
- Jericho Primary School Primary
- Kells Infant School Primary
- Lowca Community School Primary
- Monkwray Junior School Primary
- Moresby Primary School Primary
- St Begh's Catholic Junior School Primary
- St Bridget's CofE School Primary
- St Gregory and St Patrick's Catholic Infant School Primary
- St James' CofE Infant and Nursery School Primary
- St James' CofE Junior School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Mary's Catholic Primary School teach?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Whitehaven.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's Catholic Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Mary's Catholic Primary School is Mrs Susan Starkie, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Mary's Catholic Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at St Mary's Catholic Primary School?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School has 195 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St Mary's Catholic Primary School full?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School has capacity for 180 pupils and 195 on roll (108%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is St Mary's Catholic Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St Mary's Catholic Primary School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Lancaster.
- Does St Mary's Catholic Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Mary's Catholic Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have St Mary's Catholic Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 79% in 2022/23 and 76% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Mary's Catholic Primary School compare with other schools in Cumberland?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School ranked 17th of 111 primary schools in Cumberland for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 80% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 76% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Mary's Catholic Primary School's absence rate?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Mary's Catholic Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Mary's Catholic Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.