School Chooser

St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Primary · ages 4-11MixedChurch of England99 pupilsYork
School Chooser Score
62
In line with
similar schools
Likely range 29 to 85, so it could be “above”
Out of 100. Better than 49% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, October 2023
Reached the expected level at 1173%England 63%
Attendance95.1%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families8%Far fewer than most schools
Places6 spare99 pupils, 105 places
Pupils per teacher19.1School workforce census

St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is a Church of England school (voluntary controlled) in York for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 99 pupils and room for 105. About 8 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 62 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 49% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.

School Lane, Askham Richard, St. Marys C of E Primary School, York, YO23 3PD01904 552540stmarysprimaryschool.co.ukMr Richard Moss headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 11 October 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

15 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.

Reached the expected level at 1173%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level7%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score108.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score107.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 93%93%20172018: 76%76%20182019: 69%69%20192023: 75%75%20232024: 58%58%20242025: 73%73%2025
Since 2017: -20%Declining overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017YorkEngland
Pupils tested151216161715
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths73%58%75%69%76%93%62%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths7%0%19%6%18%33%8%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score108.0104.0110.0107.0105.0109.0105.8105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score107.0106.0107.0103.0104.0107.0104.6104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score107.0108.0107.0101.0106.0108.0104.9105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard87%75%100%81%76%100%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard87%67%88%69%76%93%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)80%67%75%88%82%100%
Reading progressReading progress score+3.5+4.3+1.0+4.9
Maths progressMaths progress score+1.7+0.0+1.0+3.2

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

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.

Catchment area

York council has drawn an official catchment area for this school. You can see it on the map below; it covers about 42 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.

Full106 pupils for 105 places, 2024/25
101% full

The school is full, with 1 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.

How places were given out for September 2026.

EntryPlacesGot a placeHow far the last child livedSource
2026 Primary1515LA
2025 Primary1511all offeredLA
2024 Primary1515LA

What a home inside the catchment costs

Typical sale price inside the catchment£505,000half sold for £440k to £645k
Homes sold31December 2023 to December 2025, Land Registry
Compared with the district+64%a typical home in the district sells for £307,500

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.

Pupils on roll99Census January 2026
Places10594% full
Pupils from low-income families8%8% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English0%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support16%16 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan3%3 pupils with a plan
Average class size24.84 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils25%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)9%£13,950 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls49 / 50
White British pupils88%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 24.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 29.0 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (7), language and communications needs (6), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), Hearing impairment (1), Physical disability (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll99104100101108103
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals8%5%5%3%1%2%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language0%0%0%1%1%1%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support17%12%16%12%6%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans1%3%3%2%2%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.1% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.1%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school10.0%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.02024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.3%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence4.9%5.0%3.6%5.4%2.5%3.8%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.6%4.3%3.0%4.4%2.2%2.3%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.3%0.7%0.6%1.0%0.3%1.5%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence10.0%5.8%4.4%5.3%5.2%8.3%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.00.00.00.00.0
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers5.2full-time equivalent, 7 people
Pupils per teacher19.1Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants3.8full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£52,982
Teachers who left in the year16%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies1
Sick days per teacher1.22024/25

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.

Spend per pupil£7,709England £7,738. Total £802k
Income per pupil£7,393England £7,697. Total £769k
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,699England £3,480
Money in reserve-9%In the red: -£67k, -£640 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£33kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£7,709spent per pupil

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

Crimes within 500 m512 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate36 per 1,000 people61% lower than the England average
Typical house price£307,500York
Nearest bus stop100 mSt Mary's School, 2 stops within 500 m

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.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Copmanthorpe Primary SchoolCouncil2.1 miles273Good 202346Compare
Rufforth Primary SchoolAcademy2.3 miles103Good 202362Compare
Woodthorpe Primary SchoolAcademy2.5 miles450Outstanding 202483Compare
Westfield Primary Community SchoolCouncil2.5 miles498Good 202310Compare
Long Marston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolChurch of England2.7 miles51Good 202430Compare
Hob Moor Community Primary AcademyAcademy3.2 miles243Good 202210Compare
Dringhouses Primary SchoolCouncil3.3 miles312Good 202277Compare
Archbishop of York's CofE Junior School, BishopthorpeAcademy3.4 miles160Good 202375Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School with the 47 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 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats49%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the lower half of its group. Its score of 62 is about the same as the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 7 · middle 62 · highest 89100

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 62 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 62% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 29 to 85. 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 atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%in line
+0.06
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 15 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 2.9 years old
Progress pupils make20%above
+0.07
DfE progress measure; 15 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%below
-0.10
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%above
+0.04
2024/25; 90 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%above
+0.05
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 15 pupils
What parents say0%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 Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School a good school?

It is about average. St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School scores 62 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 49% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 29 to 85, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School good at its last full inspection on 11 October 2023.

How good are St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 73% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 7% went further and reached the higher level. The year group was small, so the percentages jump around a lot from year to year.

How many pupils does St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School have?

99 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 105 places, so it is 94% full.

Is St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably. The school was full in 2024/25, with 1 more pupils than places. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.

What is attendance like at St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

Pupils were in school 95.1% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 10% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

The average class had 24.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 25% of classes 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
School Lane, Askham Richard, St. Marys C of E Primary School, York, YO23 3PD
Telephone
01904 552540
Website
www.stmarysprimaryschool.co.uk
Headteacher
Mr Richard Moss
Type of school
Church of England school (voluntary controlled) (Voluntary controlled school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 4-11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England, Diocese of York
Local authority
York
Ward
Rural West York
Constituency
York Outer
Setting
Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
121547 · LAESTAB 8163222 · UKPRN 10077996

Where these figures come from