St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston
St Mary's Road, Great Eccleston, Preston, PR3 0ZJ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- THE BLESSED EDWARD BAMBER CATHOLIC MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Jennifer Birch
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lancaster
- Sponsor
- Diocese of Lancaster
- Constituency
- Lancaster and Wyre
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 54
- Pupils on roll
- 44
- URN
- 149264
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01995670364
About this school
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Preston. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 44 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 1 July 2025, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 | 8 | 5 | 8 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 50% | - | 63% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | - | 25% |
| Expected standard in reading | 88% | - | 63% |
| Expected standard in maths | 75% | - | 75% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 75% | - | 63% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | - | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | - | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.70 | - | - |
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, Great Eccleston 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 | 50% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | — | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 63% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53 |
| 2023/24 | 49 |
| 2024/25 | 47 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston compares
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston ranked 222nd of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% 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 | 63% | 5.3% | 34% | 44 | — |
| St. Anne's Copp CofE Primary School, Great Eccleston | 62% | 4% | 18.5% | 166 | 0.6 miles |
| St Michael's-On-Wyre Church of England Primary School & Nursery | 67% | 3.3% | 10.1% | 112 | 1.9 miles |
| Inskip St Peter's Church of England Voluntary Aided School | 69% | 2.2% | 23% | 60 | 2.2 miles |
| Singleton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 71% | 3.3% | 5.6% | 100 | 3.1 miles |
| Treales Church of England Primary School | 57% | 6.5% | 31.7% | 67 | 3.5 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 34.04%
- English as an additional language
- 4.3%
- Overall absence
- 5.25%
- Persistent absence
- 18.18%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St. Anne's Copp CofE Primary School, Great Eccleston0.6 miles
Primary · Preston
-
St Michael's-On-Wyre Church of England Primary School & Nursery1.9 miles
Primary · St Michael's-on-Wyre, Preston
-
Inskip St Peter's Church of England Voluntary Aided School2.2 miles
Primary · Preston
-
Singleton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School3.1 miles
Primary · Poulton-le-Fylde
-
Treales Church of England Primary School3.5 miles
Primary · Preston
Other schools in Preston
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston ranks 58th of the 106 ranked primary schools in Preston.
- Alston Lane Catholic Primary School, Longridge Primary
- Ashton Primary School Primary
- Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Barton St Lawrence Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bilsborrow John Cross Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brabins Endowed School Primary
- Brindle Gregson Lane Primary School Primary
- Brockholes Wood Community Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Brookfield Community Primary School Primary
- Broughton-in-Amounderness Church of England Primary School Primary
- Calder Vale St John Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston teach?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Preston.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston?
- The headteacher of St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston is Mrs Jennifer Birch, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston, 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston has 44 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston full?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston has capacity for 54 pupils and 44 on roll (81%), 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, Great Eccleston a faith school?
- Yes. St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Lancaster.
- Does St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston is part of THE BLESSED EDWARD BAMBER 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 50% in 2022/23 and 63% 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, Great Eccleston rank locally?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston ranked 222nd of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% 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 Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston's absence rate?
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston's overall absence rate is 5.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston'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.