Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School
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Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School is a Church of England school (voluntary controlled) in Berwick-upon-Tweed for boys and girls aged 2 to 11. It has 121 pupils, 16 more than it has places for. About 19 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 31 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 27% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Newfields, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1SP01289 306170berwickstmarysschool.co.ukMr G Hilton headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 11 July 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
Northumberland council has drawn an official catchment area for this school. You can see it on the map below; it covers about 9.8 square kilometres. Living inside it moves your child up the queue when there are more applicants than places. It doesn't guarantee a place: the council's admissions rules decide the order.
Set your home postcode at the top of the page to see whether you live inside it.
27 places were empty (24% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have grown by 38% since 2021/22.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Northumberland council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
What a home inside the catchment costs
Every home sold inside the council's catchment area, of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
Specialist SEND provision. SEN unit with 13 pupils, for autism, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Northumberland with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (27), Autistic spectrum disorder (12), emotional and mental health (6), Moderate learning difficulty (2), Other difficulty or disability (2), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 121 | 108 | 87 | 93 | 83 | 88 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 19% | 22% | 15% | 22% | 21% | 27% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 7% | 7% | 7% | 4% | 2% | 2% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 31% | 23% | 19% | 4% | 15% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 11% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.3% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 5.7% | 5.8% | 7.3% | 5.8% | 3.9% | 5.0% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.6% | 4.2% | 5.7% | 5.6% | 3.8% | 3.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.1% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 1.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 18.7% | 18.5% | 20.4% | 16.3% | 3.3% | 10.4% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 0.8 miles | 161 | Good 2023 | 51 | Compare |
| St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Berwick | Academy | 1.4 miles | 98 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Tweedmouth West Primary School | Council | 1.4 miles | 145 | Good 2020 | 31 | Compare |
| Spittal Community Primary School | Council | 2.1 miles | 128 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Prior Park Primary School | Council | 2.1 miles | 110 | Good 2023 | 46 | Compare |
| Scremerston First School | Council | 3.5 miles | 38 | No overall grade 2025 | 30 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School with the 45 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 45 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 31 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 31% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 13 to 60. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.02 | Ofsted grade, 3.2 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.16 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.10 | 2024/25; 75 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School a good school?
The figures are weak. Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School scores 31 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 27% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 13 to 60, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School good at its last full inspection on 11 July 2023.
How many pupils does Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School have?
121 pupils aged 2 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 105 places, so it is 115% full.
Is Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 27 places were empty in 2024/25 (24% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School?
Pupils were in school 94.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 19% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School?
The average class had 16.1 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has sen unit for autism, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Newfields, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1SP
- Telephone
- 01289 306170
- Website
- www.berwickstmarysschool.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr G Hilton
- Type of school
- Church of England school (voluntary controlled) (Voluntary controlled school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-11, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Newcastle
- Local authority
- Northumberland
- Ward
- Berwick North
- Constituency
- North Northumberland
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 122271 · LAESTAB 9293046 · UKPRN 10078825
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Catchment area: Northumberland council open data (Open Government Licence), reprojected to WGS84.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.