St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham
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St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham is a converter academy in Hexham for boys and girls aged 4 to 9. It has 81 pupils and room for 150. About 25 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. We give it 90 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 96% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Hencotes, Hexham, NE46 2EE01434 603791stmaryshexham.bwcet.comMrs Sarah Oakes executive headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 11 July 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 12 November 2019 | Ungraded | School remains Good |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Roman Catholic school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
56 places were empty (37% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 16% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
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.
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.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 15.7 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 17.0 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (7), Moderate learning difficulty (1), emotional and mental health (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 81 | 92 | 98 | 109 | 110 | 117 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 25% | 19% | 21% | 19% | 20% | 21% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 5% | 9% | 6% | 4% | 1% | 3% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 11% | 9% | 6% | 10% | 4% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 4% | 5% | 2% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.3% 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 | 3.7% | 4.8% | 6.1% | 7.2% | 6.0% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 2.3% | 3.1% | 4.1% | 5.6% | 4.3% | 3.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.4% | 1.7% | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 0.9% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 6.4% | 9.9% | 15.7% | 16.3% | 20.8% | 9.6% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for St Mary's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided First School, the school this one replaced in December 2020. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sele First School | Council | 350 m | 390 | Good 2022 | 36 | Compare |
| Hexham Middle School | Academy | 420 m | 619 | Good 2024 | 72 | Compare |
| St Joseph's Catholic Middle School, Hexham | Academy | 750 m | 168 | Good 2023 | 80 | Compare |
| Hexham First School | Council | 0.7 miles | 68 | Good 2022 | 42 | Compare |
| Acomb First School | Council | 1.7 miles | 58 | Good 2023 | 52 | Compare |
| Beaufront First School | Council | 2.2 miles | 62 | Report card 2026 | 11 | Compare |
| Corbridge Middle School | Council | 3.4 miles | 367 | Report card 2026 | 54 | Compare |
| Whitley Chapel Church of England First School | Church of England | 3.8 miles | 28 | No overall grade 2024 | 67 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham 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.
No school with a similar mix of pupils within 25 km scores clearly higher.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 90 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 90% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 76 to 96. 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% | well above | +0.49 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.17 | 2024/25; 78 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 St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham scores 90 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 96% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 76 to 96, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been getting better over the last five years.
What is St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham good at its last full inspection on 11 July 2023.
How many pupils does St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham have?
81 pupils aged 4 to 9 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 150 places, so it is 54% full.
Is St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham oversubscribed?
Probably not. 56 places were empty in 2024/25 (37% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham?
Pupils were in school 96.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 6% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at St Mary's Catholic First School, Hexham?
The average class had 16.2 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Hencotes, Hexham, NE46 2EE
- Telephone
- 01434 603791
- Website
- stmaryshexham.bwcet.com
- Executive Headteacher
- Mrs Sarah Oakes
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-9
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic, Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle
- Multi-academy trust
- Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust (46 schools)
- Local authority
- Northumberland
- Ward
- Hexham East
- Constituency
- Hexham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 December 2020 (academy converter)
- URN
- 148261 · LAESTAB 9293840 · UKPRN 10087146
- Formerly
- St Mary's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided First School
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, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- 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.