St Catherine's Roman Catholic School
Pymore Road, Bridport, DT6 3TR
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- PLYMOUTH CAST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Paula Fearn
- Diocese
- Diocese of Plymouth
- Sponsor
- Plymouth CAST
- Constituency
- West Dorset
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 100
- URN
- 140757
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01308423568
About this school
St Catherine's Roman Catholic School is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Bridport. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 100 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- 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 | 21 | 24 | 20 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 38% | 50% | 30% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 8% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 52% | 71% | 55% |
| Expected standard in maths | 43% | 58% | 40% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 48% | 67% | 30% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 105.0 | 100.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 101.0 | 99.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.70 | - | - |
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 Catherine's Roman Catholic 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 | Dorset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38% | 53.5% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 50% | 53.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 30% | 54.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 117 |
| 2023/24 | 123 |
| 2024/25 | 118 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Catherine's Roman Catholic School compares
St Catherine's Roman Catholic School ranked 89th of 89 primary schools in Dorset for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 7% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 30% | 7.9% | 22% | 100 | — |
| Bridport Primary School | 50% | 5% | 19.8% | 267 | 0.4 miles |
| Bridport, St Mary's Church of England Primary School | 52% | 4.5% | 29.1% | 194 | 1.1 miles |
| Symondsbury Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 67% | 3.7% | 12.4% | 107 | 1.5 miles |
| Loders CofE Primary Academy | 50% | 3.6% | 20% | 72 | 1.6 miles |
| Salway Ash Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 60% | 4.1% | 10% | 109 | 2.7 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
-
Graded inspection report13 January 2026
- 7 June 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 22.03%
- English as an additional language
- 8.5%
- Overall absence
- 7.86%
- Persistent absence
- 22.73%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bridport Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Bridport
-
Bridport, St Mary's Church of England Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Bridport
-
Symondsbury Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School1.5 miles
Primary · Bridport
-
Loders CofE Primary Academy1.6 miles
Primary · Bridport
-
Salway Ash Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School2.7 miles
Primary · Bridport
Other schools in Bridport
St Catherine's Roman Catholic School ranks 10th of the 10 ranked primary schools in Bridport.
- Bridport Primary School Primary
- Bridport, St Mary's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Burton Bradstock Church of England Voluntary Controlled School Primary
- Charmouth Primary School Primary
- Loders CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Marshwood CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Powerstock Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Salway Ash Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Symondsbury Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- The Sir John Colfox Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Catherine's Roman Catholic School teach?
- St Catherine's Roman Catholic School teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Bridport.
- Who is the headteacher of St Catherine's Roman Catholic School?
- The headteacher of St Catherine's Roman Catholic School is Mrs Paula Fearn, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Catherine's Roman Catholic School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Catherine's Roman Catholic 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 big is St Catherine's Roman Catholic School?
- St Catherine's Roman Catholic School has 100 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is St Catherine's Roman Catholic School full?
- St Catherine's Roman Catholic School has capacity for 210 pupils and 100 on roll (48%), 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 Catherine's Roman Catholic School a faith school?
- Yes. St Catherine's Roman Catholic School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Plymouth.
- Does St Catherine's Roman Catholic School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Catherine's Roman Catholic School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs St Catherine's Roman Catholic School?
- St Catherine's Roman Catholic School is part of PLYMOUTH CAST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Catherine's Roman Catholic School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 38% in 2022/23 and 30% 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 Catherine's Roman Catholic School rank locally?
- St Catherine's Roman Catholic School ranked 89th of 89 primary schools in Dorset for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 7% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% 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 Catherine's Roman Catholic School's absence rate?
- St Catherine's Roman Catholic School's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Catherine's Roman Catholic School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Catherine's Roman Catholic 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 1 July 2026.