St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy
Tong Lane, Bacup, OL13 9LJ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ROMERO CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Elizabeth Lloyd
- Diocese
- Diocese of Salford
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Romero Catholic Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 94
- URN
- 147592
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01706873123
About this school
St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Bacup. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 94 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, 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. 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 | 19 | 19 | 27 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 32% | 37% | 15% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 47% | 53% | 48% |
| Expected standard in maths | 32% | 42% | 30% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 42% | 58% | 37% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 96.0 | 97.0 | 96.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -5.40 | - | - |
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 Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, 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 | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 32% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 37% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 15% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 167 |
| 2023/24 | 153 |
| 2024/25 | 140 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy compares
St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy ranked 440th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 15% | 7.9% | 76.2% | 94 | — |
| Bacup Thorn Primary School | 61% | 4.5% | 40.5% | 253 | 0.5 miles |
| Bacup St Saviour's Community Primary School | 64% | 4.7% | 35.5% | 88 | 0.7 miles |
| Britannia Community Primary School | 66% | 3.4% | 12.4% | 204 | 0.8 miles |
| Sharneyford Primary School | 30% | 6.5% | 15.9% | 63 | 0.9 miles |
| Northern Primary School | 50% | 4% | 18.8% | 161 | 1.2 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 report14 April 2026
- 16 April 2024
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 76.15%
- English as an additional language
- 12.1%
- Overall absence
- 7.93%
- Persistent absence
- 25.41%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bacup Thorn Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Bacup
-
Bacup St Saviour's Community Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Bacup
-
Britannia Community Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Bacup
-
Sharneyford Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Bacup
-
Northern Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Bacup
Other schools in Bacup
St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy ranks 8th of the 8 ranked primary schools in Bacup.
- Bacup Holy Trinity Stacksteads Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bacup St Saviour's Community Primary School Primary
- Bacup Thorn Primary School Primary
- Britannia Community Primary School Primary
- Northern Primary School Primary
- Sharneyford Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stacksteads, Bacup Primary
- Bacup Nursery School Nursery
- The Valley Leadership Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy teach?
- St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Bacup.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy?
- The headteacher of St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy is Mrs Elizabeth Lloyd, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, 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 Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy?
- St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy has 94 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy full?
- St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy has capacity for 210 pupils and 94 on roll (45%), 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 Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy a faith school?
- Yes. St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Salford.
- Does St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy as having nursery classes.
- Is St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy part of an academy trust?
- St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy is part of ROMERO 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 Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 32% in 2022/23 and 15% 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 Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy ranked 440th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% 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 Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy's absence rate?
- St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, 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 10 July 2026.