St Margaret's Primary School, JOHNSTONE
St Margaret's Primary School is a primary school for pupils in Johnstone. It has a Roman Catholic religious character.
- Attendance
- 93.2%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
St Margaret's Primary School in detail
School in Scotland
St Margaret's Primary School is a local authority school in Scotland. Scottish schools are inspected by Education Scotland rather than Ofsted, and Scotland does not publish school-by-school exam league tables.
St Margaret's Primary School has a pre-school (nursery) class.
In the 2025 pupil census it had 165 pupils, an average class size of 23.6 and 16 pupils per teacher.
34% of P6-P7 pupils are registered for free school meals, 35% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 21% speak English as an additional language.
Attendance was 93.2% in 2024/25, and 21% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
The 2026 school estate survey rated its buildings' condition as satisfactory (B) and their suitability for teaching as satisfactory (B); the school was 61% full.
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to St Margaret's Primary School are St David's Primary School (0.4 miles), Cochrane Castle Primary (0.4 miles), Thorn Primary School (0.6 miles) and Auchenlodment Primary School (0.8 miles).
St David's Primary SchoolCochrane Castle PrimaryThorn Primary SchoolAuchenlodment Primary School
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Johnstone Rail Station, about 970 metres away (roughly a 12-minute walk).
15 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St Margarets Rectory (at), 140 metres away.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to St Margaret's Primary School are Johnstone High School (0.7 miles), St Benedict's High School (0.9 miles) and Linwood High School (1.2 miles).
Johnstone High SchoolSt Benedict's High SchoolLinwood High School
Sources: Scottish Government school statistics: pupil census, attendance and absence, school estate, leaver destinations (OGL); NaPTAN (Department for Transport)
Key Information
Scottish GovernmentInspection
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of St Margaret's Primary School in November 2023.
- 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessmentgood
- 3.2 Raising attainment and achievementgood
HMIE grades on a six-point scale: unsatisfactory, weak, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent.
Source: HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland), Open Government Licence.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Keep up with St Margaret's Primary School
Getting There
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 8
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 3
- Children hurt
- 0
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 8 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 5 slight.
No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt.
4 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Renfrewshire is 4 (the median across 69 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
St Margaret's Primary School
Questions parents ask about St Margaret's Primary School
When was St Margaret's Primary School last inspected?
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of St Margaret's Primary School in November 2023. Inspectors evaluated learning, teaching and assessment as good and raising attainment and achievement as good, on a six-point scale from unsatisfactory to excellent.
What is the catchment area for St Margaret's Primary School?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and St Margaret's Primary School is no exception: children living in its zone are normally given a place there automatically. Families who want a different school make a placing request to Renfrewshire. Renfrewshire publishes the zone boundary.
How do I apply to St Margaret's Primary School?
If you live in St Margaret's Primary School's catchment zone your child is normally allocated a place automatically, and Renfrewshire will write to you. To ask for a place here from outside the zone, make a placing request to Renfrewshire - requests usually open in November and close in mid-March for the following August.
How many road collisions happen near St Margaret's Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 8 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 5 slight. No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt. 4 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Renfrewshire is 4 (the median across 69 schools, same distance and years).
Where is St Margaret's Primary School?
St Margaret's Primary School is at Buchanan Street, JOHNSTONE, JOHNSTONE, PA5 8RY.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)