St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle
Kirklands Road, Carlisle, CA2 4JD
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- MATER CHRISTI MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sarah Hutchinson
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lancaster
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Mater Christi Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Carlisle
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 238
- Pupils on roll
- 217
- URN
- 148701
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01228401800
About this school
St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Carlisle. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 217 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle, 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Inadequate
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Inadequate
- Early years
- Inadequate
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 29 | 32 | 29 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 72% | 75% | 41% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 10% | 3% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 79% | 84% | 59% |
| Expected standard in maths | 83% | 81% | 66% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 79% | 81% | 66% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 104.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +3.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.00 | - | - |
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 Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Cumberland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 72% | 53% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 75% | 52.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 41% | 54.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 215 |
| 2023/24 | 233 |
| 2024/25 | 230 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle compares
St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle ranked 93rd of 111 primary schools in Cumberland for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 12% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 54% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41% | 5.3% | 32.8% | 217 | — |
| Upperby Primary School | 61% | 5.7% | 35.2% | 346 | 0.2 miles |
| The Bishop Harvey Goodwin School (Church of England Voluntary Aided) | 43% | 8.2% | 51.8% | 139 | 0.3 miles |
| Petteril Bank School | 50% | 4.5% | 61.5% | 147 | 0.7 miles |
| Inglewood Infant School | — | 7.5% | 31.6% | 267 | 0.8 miles |
| Robert Ferguson Primary School | 38% | 5.3% | 25.3% | 409 | 0.9 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)
- 32.84%
- English as an additional language
- 23%
- Overall absence
- 5.28%
- Persistent absence
- 11.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Upperby Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Carlisle
-
The Bishop Harvey Goodwin School (Church of England Voluntary Aided)0.3 miles
Primary · Carlisle
-
Petteril Bank School0.7 miles
Primary · Carlisle
-
Inglewood Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · Carlisle
-
Robert Ferguson Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Carlisle
Other schools in Carlisle
St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle ranks 38th of the 40 ranked primary schools in Carlisle.
- Armathwaite School Primary
- Belle Vue Primary School Primary
- Bewcastle School Primary
- Blackford CofE Primary School Primary
- Brook Street Primary School Primary
- Burgh by Sands School Primary
- Caldew Lea School Primary
- Crosby-on-Eden CofE School Primary
- Cummersdale School Primary
- Cumwhinton School Primary
- Great Corby School and Nursery Primary
- Great Orton Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle teach?
- St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Carlisle.
- Who is the headteacher of St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle?
- The headteacher of St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle is Mrs Sarah Hutchinson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle, 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 Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle?
- St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle has 217 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle full?
- St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle has capacity for 238 pupils and 217 on roll (91%), 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 Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle a faith school?
- Yes. St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Lancaster.
- Does St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle as having nursery classes.
- Is St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle part of an academy trust?
- St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle is part of MATER CHRISTI 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 Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 72% in 2022/23 and 41% 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 Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle compare with other schools in Cumberland?
- St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle ranked 93rd of 111 primary schools in Cumberland for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 12% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 54% 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 Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle's absence rate?
- St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle's overall absence rate is 5.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, Carlisle'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.