St Margaret's Primary Academy
Church Road, Lowestoft, NR32 4JF
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- REACH2 ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Julie Catchpole
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- REAch2 Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Lowestoft
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 364
- URN
- 141984
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01502530130
About this school
St Margaret's Primary Academy is a primary academy in Lowestoft. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 364 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Margaret's Primary Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong 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 | 60 | 57 | 54 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 67% | 65% | 51% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 2% | 4% | 11% |
| Expected standard in reading | 80% | 77% | 56% |
| Expected standard in maths | 72% | 75% | 63% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 73% | 65% | 56% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 104.0 | 101.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 104.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | 0.00 | - | - |
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 Margaret's Primary Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Suffolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 67% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 65% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 51% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 422 |
| 2023/24 | 422 |
| 2024/25 | 389 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Margaret's Primary Academy compares
St Margaret's Primary Academy ranked 164th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51% | 6.8% | 51.5% | 364 | — |
| Northfield St Nicholas Primary Academy | 67% | 5.8% | 49.7% | 311 | 0.1 miles |
| Poplars Community Primary School | 79% | 3.4% | 52.7% | 260 | 0.2 miles |
| Roman Hill Primary School | 33% | 7.1% | 51.9% | 375 | 0.5 miles |
| Woods Loke Primary School | 75% | 3.1% | 18.9% | 483 | 1.0 miles |
| Gunton Primary Academy | 71% | 6.1% | 34% | 306 | 1.0 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 report21 April 2026
- 30 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 51.53%
- English as an additional language
- 10.8%
- Overall absence
- 6.78%
- Persistent absence
- 22.94%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Northfield St Nicholas Primary Academy0.1 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
Poplars Community Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
Roman Hill Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
Woods Loke Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
Gunton Primary Academy1.0 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
Other schools in Lowestoft
St Margaret's Primary Academy ranks 16th of the 18 ranked primary schools in Lowestoft.
- Blundeston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Carlton Colville Primary School Primary
- Corton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Dell Primary School Primary
- Elm Tree Primary School Primary
- Grove Primary School Primary
- Gunton Primary Academy Primary
- Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Northfield St Nicholas Primary Academy Primary
- Oulton Broad Primary School Primary
- Pakefield Primary School Primary
- Poplars Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Margaret's Primary Academy teach?
- St Margaret's Primary Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Lowestoft.
- Who is the headteacher of St Margaret's Primary Academy?
- The headteacher of St Margaret's Primary Academy is Mrs Julie Catchpole, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Margaret's Primary Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Margaret's Primary Academy, 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 Margaret's Primary Academy?
- St Margaret's Primary Academy has 364 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St Margaret's Primary Academy full?
- St Margaret's Primary Academy has capacity for 420 pupils and 364 on roll (87%), 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 Margaret's Primary Academy a faith school?
- No. St Margaret's Primary Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does St Margaret's Primary Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Margaret's Primary Academy as having nursery classes.
- Is St Margaret's Primary Academy part of an academy trust?
- St Margaret's Primary Academy is part of REACH2 ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Margaret's Primary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 67% in 2022/23 and 51% 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 Margaret's Primary Academy compare with other schools in Suffolk?
- St Margaret's Primary Academy ranked 164th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% 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 Margaret's Primary Academy's absence rate?
- St Margaret's Primary Academy's overall absence rate is 6.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Margaret's Primary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Margaret's Primary Academy'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 15 July 2026.