St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill
Pemberton Road, Blackhill, Consett, DH8 8JD
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- BISHOP WILKINSON CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Victoria Ramshaw
- Diocese
- Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle
- Sponsor
- Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust
- Constituency
- Blaydon and Consett
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 270
- Pupils on roll
- 202
- URN
- 148413
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01207502657
About this school
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Consett. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 202 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill, 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 27 March 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
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 | 28 | 27 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 55% | 61% | 67% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 0% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 71% | 75% | 78% |
| Expected standard in maths | 58% | 82% | 81% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 71% | 86% | 78% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.50 | - | - |
| 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | County Durham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55% | 58% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 61% | 58.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 67% | 60% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 205 |
| 2023/24 | 206 |
| 2024/25 | 204 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill compares
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill ranked 78th of 185 primary schools in County Durham for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 57% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 91% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 67% | 3.7% | 9.3% | 202 | — |
| Benfieldside Primary School | 52% | 8.1% | 59.8% | 178 | 0.4 miles |
| The Grove Primary School | 38% | 6.8% | 43.8% | 179 | 0.7 miles |
| St Pius Xth Catholic Primary School, Consett | 47% | 5.2% | 26.2% | 75 | 0.8 miles |
| Shotley Bridge Primary School | 59% | 3.9% | 10.7% | 344 | 1.0 miles |
| St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Consett | 52% | 4.1% | 22.2% | 372 | 1.1 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 9.31%
- English as an additional language
- 2.5%
- Overall absence
- 3.66%
- Persistent absence
- 6.7%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Benfieldside Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Consett
-
The Grove Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Consett
-
St Pius Xth Catholic Primary School, Consett0.8 miles
Primary · Consett
-
Shotley Bridge Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Consett
-
St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Consett1.1 miles
Primary · Consett
Other schools in Consett
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill ranks 3rd of the 14 ranked primary schools in Consett.
- Benfieldside Primary School Primary
- Bishop Ian Ramsey CofE Primary School Primary
- Castleside Primary School Primary
- Consett Infant School Primary
- Consett Junior School Primary
- Delves Lane Primary School Primary
- Ebchester CofE Primary School Primary
- Leadgate Primary School - Split Site Primary
- Moorside Primary Academy Primary
- Our Lady and St Joseph Brooms Catholic Primary School, Leadgate Primary
- Shotley Bridge Primary School Primary
- St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Consett Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill teach?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Consett.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill?
- The headteacher of St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill is Mrs Victoria Ramshaw, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill, 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 Catholic Primary School, Blackhill?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill has 202 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill full?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill has capacity for 270 pupils and 202 on roll (75%), 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 Catholic Primary School, Blackhill a faith school?
- Yes. St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.
- Does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill as having no nursery classes.
- Is St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill part of an academy trust?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill is part of BISHOP WILKINSON CATHOLIC EDUCATION 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 Catholic Primary School, Blackhill's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 55% in 2022/23 and 67% 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 Catholic Primary School, Blackhill compare with other schools in County Durham?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill ranked 78th of 185 primary schools in County Durham for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 57% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 91% 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 Catholic Primary School, Blackhill's absence rate?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill's overall absence rate is 3.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Blackhill'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.