St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy
Gargrave Road, Skipton, BD23 1PJ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- THE BISHOP WHEELER CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Jo Sykes
- Religious ethos
- Catholic
- Diocese
- Diocese of Leeds (rc)
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Skipton and Ripon
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 218
- Pupils on roll
- 148
- URN
- 142023
- Local authority
- North Yorkshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01756709451
About this school
St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Skipton. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 148 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary 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
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Early years
- Needs attention
- 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 | 31 | 23 | 20 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 45% | 35% | 50% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 0% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 71% | 87% | 80% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 52% | 55% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 68% | 65% | 80% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 102.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -3.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.90 | - | - |
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 Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary 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 | North Yorkshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 45% | 56.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 35% | 58.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 50% | 59.2% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 158 |
| 2023/24 | 159 |
| 2024/25 | 153 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy compares
St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy ranked 174th of 233 primary schools in North Yorkshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50% | 5.9% | 20.6% | 148 | — |
| Skipton, Water Street Community Primary School | 61% | 3.7% | 8.8% | 215 | 0.1 miles |
| Christ Church Church of England Primary School | 71% | 5.3% | 21.4% | 140 | 0.3 miles |
| Skipton Parish Church of England Primary School | 69% | 5% | 37.3% | 221 | 0.4 miles |
| Greatwood Community Primary School | 77% | 4.1% | 22.6% | 208 | 0.7 miles |
| Carleton Endowed CofE Primary School | 41% | 6% | 13.9% | 120 | 1.5 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 report10 February 2026
- 9 February 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 20.57%
- English as an additional language
- 51%
- Overall absence
- 5.94%
- Persistent absence
- 17.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Skipton, Water Street Community Primary School0.1 miles
Primary · Skipton
-
Christ Church Church of England Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Skipton
-
Skipton Parish Church of England Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Skipton
-
Greatwood Community Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Skipton
-
Carleton Endowed CofE Primary School1.5 miles
Primary · Skipton
Other schools in Skipton
St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy ranks 10th of the 13 ranked primary schools in Skipton.
- Burnsall Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Carleton Endowed CofE Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Church of England Primary School Primary
- Cracoe and Rylstone Voluntary Controlled Church of England Primary School Primary
- Embsay Church of England Primary School Primary
- Gargrave Church of England Primary School Primary
- Grassington Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Greatwood Community Primary School Primary
- Hellifield Community Primary School Primary
- Kettlewell Primary School Primary
- Kirkby in Malhamdale United Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Long Preston Endowed Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy teach?
- St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Skipton.
- Who is the headteacher of St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy?
- The headteacher of St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy is Mrs Jo Sykes, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary 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 Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy?
- St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy has 148 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy full?
- St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy has capacity for 218 pupils and 148 on roll (68%), 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 Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy a faith school?
- Yes. St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Leeds (rc).
- Does St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy as having nursery classes.
- Is St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy part of an academy trust?
- St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy is part of THE BISHOP WHEELER CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 45% in 2022/23 and 50% 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 Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy compare with other schools in North Yorkshire?
- St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy ranked 174th of 233 primary schools in North Yorkshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% 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 Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy's absence rate?
- St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy's overall absence rate is 5.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Stephen's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, A Voluntary 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 2 July 2026.