St Marie's Catholic Primary School, Liverpool
St Marie's Catholic Primary School is a primary school for pupils aged 3 to 11 in Liverpool. It has a Roman Catholic religious character. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in May 2016. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in October 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 106th-highest of the 177 schools in Liverpool with published results, and 9,982nd of 14,452 across England. It was 95% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2016)
- Demand
- Every first choice offered
- Attendance
- Below England average
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 81 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Knowsley (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
St Marie's Catholic Primary School in detail
St Marie's Catholic Primary School in its own words
In its own words: "Be a Christian community that lives the Gospel values; ‘Love of Christ’. Provide opportunities for all to grow and achieve by igniting a desire for learning; ‘Guide and inspire’. Be a haven of peace and love that enables all to thrive; ‘Nurture’."
Vision and values (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 77% of Year 6 pupils at St Marie's Catholic Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 65% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 75% and 74% in Knowsley and 77% and 75% across England.
Results rose from 50% in reading and 55% in maths in 2024.
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at St Marie's Catholic Primary School
For September 2026 entry, 19 families put St Marie's Catholic Primary School as their first choice and 33 named it as one of their preferences, for 20 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.
Admissions history and your chances at St Marie's Catholic Primary School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to St Marie's Catholic Primary School are Northwood Community Primary School (With Designated Special Provision) (0.3 miles, Good, 62% reading, 63% maths); Eastcroft Park School (0.5 miles, Good, 81% reading, 78% maths); Kirkby CofE Primary School (0.7 miles, Good, 69% reading, 74% maths); and St Laurence's Catholic Primary School (0.7 miles, Good, 63% reading, 79% maths).
St Marie's Catholic Primary School's 2025 results were higher than 1 of these 4 schools.
Northwood Community Primary School (With Designated Special Provision)Eastcroft Park SchoolKirkby CofE Primary SchoolSt Laurence's Catholic Primary School
Who goes there
65.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.
Staffing
St Marie's Catholic Primary School had 14 teachers in 2026, one for every 14 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical primary school, at about one for every 20.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Headbolt Lane Rail Station, about 860 metres away (roughly a 11-minute walk).
17 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Quernmore Road (adjacent), 110 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood St Marie's Catholic Primary School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, St Marie's Catholic Primary School issued 4 suspensions, 1.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to St Marie's Catholic Primary School are All Saints Catholic High School (0.4 miles) and Kirkby High School (1.2 miles).
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; DfE school workforce census; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from May 2016, 10 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's October 2024 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
St Marie's is a warm, family-like community where children feel known and valued. Teachers are skilled at teaching early reading through phonics, with most children fluent readers by the end of year 2. The school has excellent behaviour expectations and provides a rich range of activities to help children learn about different cultures and become responsible citizens.
Key Strengths
- Strong phonics teaching in early years and key stage 1 with most pupils reading fluently by end of year 2
- Excellent behaviour and positive attitudes to learning, with pupils understanding and following school rules well
- Effective support for pupils with SEND, with staff trained to adapt lessons and most pupils making good progress
- Broad and ambitious curriculum that considers disadvantaged pupils and includes strong focus on wider development and citizenship
- Significant improvements in pupil attendance through school tracking and promotion of regular attendance
Areas for Improvement
- Revised curriculum not consistently implemented across all subjects, leading to variable pupil progress
- Assessment systems not being applied consistently across the school, so gaps in learning from the previous curriculum are not being identified quickly enough
- Reading curriculum in key stage 2 not yet fully developed - pupils do not build on phonics knowledge to develop comprehension and higher-order reading skills
- Pupils' historical low test results in reading and mathematics from 2023-24 mean some pupils are not fully prepared for the next stage of education
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with the school creating an open and positive culture that puts pupils' interests first.
Extracurricular Activities
Sporting competitions and festivals, wide range of extra-curricular clubs, university visits, charity fundraising, breakfast club, after-school club
St Marie's Catholic Primary School is a welcoming and nurturing school where pupils enjoy learning and thrive in a calm, respectful atmosphere. However, the quality of education requires improvement because the newly designed curriculum is not being delivered effectively across all subjects.
At a Glance
65.3%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has improved from 50% to 77% (2024 to 2025). Maths has improved from 55% to 65% (2024 to 2025). Writing has remained stable at around 73% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
24.4
Avg class size
29.7
Infant (KS1)
27.8
KS2
9
Total classes
1 class with more than 30 pupils
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Latest from St Marie's Catholic Primary School
Sports Premium
30 Sep 2026
Pupil Premium
23 Sep 2026
Former Governors
17 Sep 2026
Membership and Register of Interests
17 Sep 2026
Committee Remit
16 Sep 2026
Governor Attendance
16 Sep 2026
From St Marie's Catholic Primary School's website. School Signal is not affiliated with the school.
Social & online
Keep up with St Marie's Catholic Primary School
Before and after school care
St Marie's Catholic Primary School is on the Department for Education's free breakfast clubs programme (list updated July 2026), which pays for a free breakfast club for pupils before school. Source: Free breakfast clubs: schools on the programme, Department for Education Free breakfast clubs in Knowsley
Term dates
St Marie's Catholic Primary School is a voluntary aided school, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Knowsley's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to St Marie's Catholic Primary School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. St Marie's Catholic Primary School is in Knowsley; for families living there:
Apply to Knowsley for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 12
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 5
- Children hurt
- 9
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 12 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 7 slight.
9 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 7 on foot, 1 on a bicycle and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise.
3 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 Knowsley is 14 (the median across 63 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
Your chances of a place at St Marie's Catholic Primary School
Will you get a place at St Marie's Catholic Primary School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against St Marie's Catholic Primary School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for St Marie's Catholic Primary School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to St Marie's Catholic Primary School.
- Knowsley publishes last distance offered figures, but none for St Marie's Catholic Primary School that we hold, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at St Marie's Catholic Primary School for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Knowsley got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
£9.99 once
One school, inc. VAT. Or £19.99 for up to three schools.
Pro £9 a month, every report included, cancel any time
A report for any school, plus everything else in Pro.
Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
95%
Near capacity
199 pupils
210 places
11 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Liverpool
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Liverpool
Across Knowsley council
Places available
2,085
Applications
1,953
Got 1st preference
86.6%
Got preferred school
96.3%
All primary applications across Knowsley council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(11)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
42
SEN Support
11
EHC Plans
23.9%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
222
Total Pupils
101
Boys
121
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
14
Teachers
15.9:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£54,701
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£6,867
Per pupil
£1620k
Total funding
£200k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
7.8%
Overall absence
28.4%
Persistent absence
176
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
St Marie's Catholic Primary School
Questions parents ask about St Marie's Catholic Primary School
What are SATs results like at St Marie's Catholic Primary School?
Of the pupils at St Marie's Catholic Primary School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 77% reached the expected standard in reading and 65% did so in maths.
What is St Marie's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?
St Marie's Catholic Primary School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in October 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in May 2016, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for St Marie's Catholic Primary School?
No fixed boundary. When St Marie's Catholic Primary School is oversubscribed, Knowsley allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at St Marie's Catholic Primary School?
St Marie's Catholic Primary School was close to full in 2025, at 95% of its capacity.
How big are the classes at St Marie's Catholic Primary School?
Classes at St Marie's Catholic Primary School average 24.4 pupils (2025/26). 1 class has more than 30 pupils - infant classes are capped at 30 by law, with limited exceptions.
How many pupils go to St Marie's Catholic Primary School?
St Marie's Catholic Primary School has around 222 pupils on roll. 65% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at St Marie's Catholic Primary School?
7.8% of sessions were missed at St Marie's Catholic Primary School in 2024/25. 28.4% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to St Marie's Catholic Primary School?
Apply through Knowsley's coordinated admissions process, naming St Marie's Catholic Primary School on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
Does St Marie's Catholic Primary School have a breakfast club or after-school club?
St Marie's Catholic Primary School is on the Department for Education's free breakfast clubs programme (list updated July 2026), which pays for a free breakfast club for pupils before school.
How many road collisions happen near St Marie's Catholic Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 12 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 7 slight. 9 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 7 on foot, 1 on a bicycle and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise. 3 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 Knowsley is 14 (the median across 63 schools, same distance and years).
Where is St Marie's Catholic Primary School?
St Marie's Catholic Primary School is at Bigdale Drive, Northwood, Liverpool, Merseyside, L33 6XL.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)