St Mark's RC Primary School, Manchester
St Mark's RC Primary School is a primary school for pupils aged 3 to 11 in Manchester. It has a Roman Catholic religious character. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in July 2024. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 117th-highest of the 258 schools in Manchester with published results, and 7,614th of 14,452 across England. For 2026 entry it had 1.4 first-choice applications for every place. It was 99% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- In line with England
- Ofsted
- Good (2024)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- Attendance
- In line with England
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 81 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Salford (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
St Mark's RC Primary School in detail
St Mark's RC Primary School in its own words
From the headteacher's welcome: "St Mark’s is a happy school where children are encouraged to aim for the highest standards in all that they do. Above all we value every single child as an individual and seek to work in close partnership with parents/carers to provide the best all-round education that we can. We have a supportive Governing Body and a committed staff."
Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, tennis and art.
The school runs a breakfast club and after-school care.
Headteacher's welcome (school website)Clubs (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 82% of Year 6 pupils at St Mark's RC Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 71% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 75% and 73% in Salford and 77% and 75% across England.
Results fell from 76% in reading and 83% in maths in 2024.
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at St Mark's RC Primary School
For September 2026 entry, 43 families put St Mark's RC Primary School as their first choice and 60 named it as one of their preferences, for 30 places offered. That is 1.4 first choices for every place. 13 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Admissions history and your chances at St Mark's RC Primary School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to St Mark's RC Primary School are Clifton Primary School (0.4 miles, Good, 63% reading, 63% maths); Mossfield Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 89% reading, 86% maths); St Mary's RC Primary School (0.7 miles, Good, 83% reading, 83% maths); and St Augustine's CofE Primary School (0.7 miles, Good, 75% reading, 67% maths).
St Mark's RC Primary School's 2025 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.
Clifton Primary SchoolMossfield Primary SchoolSt Mary's RC Primary SchoolSt Augustine's CofE Primary School
Who goes there
34% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 39.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
The largest ethnic groups are White British (49%), Mixed (15%) and Black (8%).
In 2026, 46 pupils (19.6%) received SEN support and 5 (2.1%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Swinton (Manchester) Rail Station, about 860 metres away (roughly a 11-minute walk).
15 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Silverdale (near), 70 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood St Mark's RC Primary School stands in is among the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
St Mark's RC Primary School recorded no suspensions or permanent exclusions in 2024/25.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to St Mark's RC Primary School are Co-op Academy Swinton (0.5 miles), Barton Moss Education Centre (0.8 miles), Moorside High School (1.1 miles) and St Ambrose Barlow Roman Catholic High School (1.2 miles).
Co-op Academy SwintonBarton Moss Education CentreMoorside High SchoolSt Ambrose Barlow Roman Catholic High School
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; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Salford published that the last place for 2021 entry went to a family 0.22 miles away (straight line). The cut-off moves every year.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoOverall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's July 2024 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
St Mark's is a caring school where children feel safe and well looked after. Teachers are skilled at teaching reading from the earliest ages, and pupils develop real enthusiasm for books. The school is ambitious for all pupils, including those with additional needs, and supports them to achieve well across a wide curriculum.
Key Strengths
- Strong phonics teaching and love of reading from early years through to older pupils who read with confidence and fluency
- Well-designed ambitious curriculum with clear content and sequencing from early years to Year 6
- Effective identification and support for pupils with SEND, who achieve well and participate fully in school life
- Positive behaviour and attitudes to learning, with calm and purposeful classrooms
- Comprehensive personal development programme covering equality, diversity, health, well-being and British values
Areas for Improvement
- In a small number of subjects, pupils have fewer opportunities to recap and recall previous learning, which sometimes affects their ability to build securely on what they know
- Teachers in some subjects need better support to design learning that helps pupils build their knowledge more effectively
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective and the school has created a positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils' interests first.
Extracurricular Activities
Dance festival, trips, clubs, prefects, young leaders, house captains, fundraising for local and national charities, breakfast club, after-school care club
St Mark's RC Primary School is a happy and caring school where pupils enjoy positive relationships with staff and behave well. The school has designed an ambitious curriculum and pupils, including those with SEND, mostly achieve well across a broad range of subjects.
At a Glance
34.0%
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 76% to 82% (2024 to 2025). Maths has declined from 83% to 71% (2024 to 2025). Writing has remained stable at around 79% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
29.4
Avg class size
28.3
Infant (KS1)
30.3
KS2
8
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 Mark's RC Primary School
25.9.26 Newsletter
29 Sep 2026
18.9.26 Newsletter
21 Sep 2026
11.9.26Newsletter
16 Sep 2026
4.9.26 Newsletter
7 Sep 2026
Yearly Overview 2026/27
7 Sep 2026
SCOPAY letter
15 Dec 2025
From St Mark's RC Primary School's website. School Signal is not affiliated with the school.
Social & online
Keep up with St Mark's RC Primary School
Term dates
St Mark's RC Primary School is a voluntary aided school, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Salford's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to St Mark's RC Primary School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. St Mark's RC Primary School is in Salford; for families living there:
- Salford's school travel policy: Salford home to school transport policy 2026 (Adobe PDF format, 156kb)
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 26
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 10
- Children hurt
- 6
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 26 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 10 serious and 16 slight.
6 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 3 on foot, 2 on a bicycle and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise.
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 Salford is 19.5 (the median across 136 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 Mark's RC Primary School
Will you get a place at St Mark's RC Primary School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against St Mark's RC Primary School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for St Mark's RC Primary School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to St Mark's RC Primary School.
- Last distance offered for 2016, 2017 and 2021 entry, from Salford's own figures, and how your distance compares each year.
- Applications, first choices and offers at St Mark's RC Primary School for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Salford 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.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
99%
Near capacity
207 pupils
210 places
3 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Manchester
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Manchester
Across Salford council
Places available
3,266
Applications
2,753
Got 1st preference
91.1%
Got preferred school
97.8%
All primary applications across Salford council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(5)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
46
SEN Support
5
EHC Plans
21.7%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
235
Total Pupils
112
Boys
123
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
12
Teachers
19.6:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£47,021
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£5,745
Per pupil
£1340k
Total funding
£95k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
4.7%
Overall absence
10.4%
Persistent absence
182
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
Questions parents ask about St Mark's RC Primary School
What are SATs results like at St Mark's RC Primary School?
Of the pupils at St Mark's RC Primary School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 82% reached the expected standard in reading and 71% did so in maths.
What is St Mark's RC Primary School's Ofsted rating?
St Mark's RC Primary School was rated Good at its most recent Ofsted inspection in July 2024.
How close to St Mark's RC Primary School do you need to live?
Salford publishes how far the last offered place was, in miles: 0.099 for 2016 entry, then 0.097 for 2017 entry, then 0.22 for 2021 entry. The cut-off has loosened over that period, so places have been reaching further out. These are the authority's own figures, not a fixed boundary - the cut-off moves with the number of applications each year.
Is it hard to get a place at St Mark's RC Primary School?
St Mark's RC Primary School was close to full in 2025, at 99% of its capacity.
How big are the classes at St Mark's RC Primary School?
Classes at St Mark's RC Primary School average 29.4 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 Mark's RC Primary School?
St Mark's RC Primary School has around 235 pupils on roll. 34% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at St Mark's RC Primary School?
4.7% of sessions were missed at St Mark's RC Primary School in 2024/25. 10.4% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to St Mark's RC Primary School?
Apply through Salford's coordinated admissions process, naming St Mark's RC 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.
How many road collisions happen near St Mark's RC Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 26 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 10 serious and 16 slight. 6 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 3 on foot, 2 on a bicycle and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise. 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 Salford is 19.5 (the median across 136 schools, same distance and years).
Where is St Mark's RC Primary School?
St Mark's RC Primary School is at Queensway, Clifton, Manchester, M27 8QE.
Sources: Salford admissions booklets; Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)