St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery
Ringsfield Road, Beccles, NR34 9PQ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CATHOLIC MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Patrick Kennedy
- Diocese
- Diocese of East Anglia
- Sponsor
- St John the Baptist Catholic Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Lowestoft
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 119
- Pupils on roll
- 69
- URN
- 142786
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01502712012
About this school
St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Beccles. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 69 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
- 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
- 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 | 11 | 14 | 13 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 64% | 36% | 38% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 7% | 8% |
| Expected standard in reading | 91% | 64% | 62% |
| Expected standard in maths | 73% | 43% | 62% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 73% | 71% | 62% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 104.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 99.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.40 | - | - |
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 Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery 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 | 64% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 36% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 38% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 78 |
| 2023/24 | 77 |
| 2024/25 | 73 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery compares
St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery ranked 203rd of 223 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 10% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38% | 9.6% | 32.9% | 69 | — |
| The Albert Pye Community Primary School | 82% | 4.7% | 27.2% | 350 | 0.3 miles |
| Ravensmere Infant School | — | 3.1% | 12.9% | 52 | 0.4 miles |
| Beccles Primary Academy | 50% | 7.3% | 48.2% | 148 | 0.9 miles |
| Gillingham St Michael's Church of England Primary Academy | 70% | 4.8% | 26.4% | 41 | 1.4 miles |
| Worlingham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School | 59% | 4.6% | 11.3% | 324 | 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 report9 June 2026
- 5 July 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 32.88%
- English as an additional language
- 11%
- Overall absence
- 9.57%
- Persistent absence
- 23.53%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Albert Pye Community Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Beccles
-
Ravensmere Infant School0.4 miles
Primary · Beccles
-
Beccles Primary Academy0.9 miles
Primary · Beccles
-
Gillingham St Michael's Church of England Primary Academy1.4 miles
Primary · Beccles
-
Worlingham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School1.5 miles
Primary · Beccles
Other schools in Beccles
St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery ranks 8th of the 9 ranked primary schools in Beccles.
- Barnby and North Cove Community Primary School Primary
- Beccles Primary Academy Primary
- Brampton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Gillingham St Michael's Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Glebeland Community Primary School Primary
- Ilketshall St Lawrence School Primary
- Ravensmere Infant School Primary
- Ringsfield Church of England Primary School Primary
- The Albert Pye Community Primary School Primary
- Worlingham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Beccles High School Secondary
- Sir John Leman High School Secondary
Recorded changes at this school
- School name changed from St Benet's Catholic Primary School to St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery recorded 2 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery teach?
- St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Beccles.
- Who is the headteacher of St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery?
- The headteacher of St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery is Mr Patrick Kennedy, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery, 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 Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery?
- St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery has 69 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery full?
- St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery has capacity for 119 pupils and 69 on roll (58%), 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 Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery a faith school?
- Yes. St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of East Anglia.
- Does St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery?
- St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery is part of ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CATHOLIC MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 64% in 2022/23 and 38% 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 Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery rank locally?
- St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery ranked 203rd of 223 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 10% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% 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 Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery's absence rate?
- St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery's overall absence rate is 9.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery'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 September 2026.