St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick
Hall Road, Scarisbrick, Ormskirk, L40 9QE
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mrs Joanne Preston
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Liverpool
- Constituency
- West Lancashire
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 105
- Pupils on roll
- 56
- URN
- 119683
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01704880626
About this school
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Ormskirk. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 56 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 12 | 14 | 17 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 50% | 14% | 53% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 67% | 57% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 83% | 43% | 59% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 67% | 36% | 71% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 101.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 99.0 | 100.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.80 | - | - |
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, Scarisbrick has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 50% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 14% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 53% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 82 |
| 2023/24 | 90 |
| 2024/25 | 68 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick compares
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick ranked 320th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53% | 6.6% | 17.7% | 56 | — |
| Scarisbrick St Mark's Church of England Primary School | 60% | 4.9% | 29.4% | 40 | 0.9 miles |
| Halsall St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School | 79% | 4.7% | 6.8% | 190 | 2.5 miles |
| Kew Woods Primary School | 79% | 5% | 27.7% | 426 | 2.7 miles |
| Ormskirk West End School | 18% | 7.7% | 43.4% | 130 | 2.7 miles |
| Ormskirk Asmall Primary School | 38% | 3.9% | 20.8% | 152 | 2.8 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 17.65%
- English as an additional language
- 1.5%
- Overall absence
- 6.59%
- Persistent absence
- 20.9%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Scarisbrick St Mark's Church of England Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Ormskirk
-
Halsall St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School2.5 miles
Primary · Ormskirk
-
Kew Woods Primary School2.7 miles
Primary · Southport
-
Ormskirk West End School2.7 miles
Primary · Ormskirk
-
Ormskirk Asmall Primary School2.8 miles
Primary · Ormskirk
Other schools in Ormskirk
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick ranks 13th of the 22 ranked primary schools in Ormskirk.
- Aughton Christ Church Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Aughton St Michael's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Aughton Town Green Primary School Primary
- Bickerstaffe CofE Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Burscough Bridge Methodist School Primary
- Burscough Bridge St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Burscough Lordsgate Township Church of England Primary School Primary
- Burscough Village Primary School Primary
- Downholland-Haskayne Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School Primary
- Halsall St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Holmeswood Methodist School Primary
- Mawdesley St Peter's Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick teach?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Ormskirk.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick?
- The headteacher of St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick is Mrs Joanne Preston, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick has 56 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick full?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick has capacity for 105 pupils and 56 on roll (53%), so it has space against 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, Scarisbrick a faith school?
- Yes. St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
- Does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick as having no nursery classes.
- How have St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 50% in 2022/23 and 53% 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, Scarisbrick rank locally?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick ranked 320th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% 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, Scarisbrick's absence rate?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick's overall absence rate is 6.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Scarisbrick'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 30 June 2026.