School Chooser

St Mary's CofE Primary School

Primary · ages 5-11MixedChurch of England144 pupilsHerefordHerefordshire, County of
School Chooser Score
28
Below
similar schools
Likely range 13 to 55, so it could be “in line”
Out of 100. Better than 9% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
OfstedAs expected teachingOfsted report card, April 2026
Reached the expected level at 1159%England 63%
Attendance95.0%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families10%Far fewer than most schools
Places66 spare144 pupils, 210 places
Pupils per teacher20.7School workforce census

St Mary's CofE Primary School is a Church of England school (voluntary controlled) in Hereford for boys and girls aged 5 to 11. It has 144 pupils and room for 210. About 10 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 28 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 9% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in April 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.

Credenhill, Hereford, HR4 7DW01432 760408credenhill.hereford.sch.ukMrs Bernadette Davies headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted visited on 21 April 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.

TeachingOfsted calls this “curriculum and teaching”
As expected
Achievement
As expected
Behaviour and attendanceOfsted calls this “attendance and behaviour”
As expected
Support for every childOfsted calls this “inclusion”
As expected
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development and wellbeing”
As expected
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and governance”
As expected
Early years
As expected
SafeguardingAre pupils kept safe?
Pupils are kept safe
Met
Ofsted's scale:ExceptionalStrong standardExpected standardNeeds attentionUrgent improvement

Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.

Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcome
10 November 2021UngradedSchool remains Good

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

17 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 1159%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level0%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score104.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score104.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 65%65%20172018: 55%55%20182019: 75%75%20192023: 46%46%20232024: 45%45%20242025: 59%59%2025
Since 2017: -6%Steady overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017Herefordshire, County ofEngland
Pupils tested172226242226
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths59%45%46%75%55%65%64%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths0%9%4%4%5%12%9%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score104.0105.0103.0105.0105.0106.0105.9105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score104.0104.0102.0106.0104.0107.0104.6104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score105.0104.0103.0108.0108.0109.0105.5105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard65%77%73%83%82%81%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard82%68%65%88%82%85%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)82%73%65%88%73%73%
Reading progressReading progress score-3.2-1.6+0.2+2.9
Maths progressMaths progress score-3.0-0.1-0.5+3.7

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.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. None of the gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
55%67%
Gap 12 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

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.

Plenty of spare places136 pupils for 210 places, 2024/25
65% full

74 places were empty (35% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 13% 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 Herefordshire, County of 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.

Pupils on roll144Census January 2026
Places21069% full
Pupils from low-income families10%10% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English1%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support19%28 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan2%3 pupils with a plan
Average class size24.65 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)13%£27,900 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls74 / 70
White British pupils92%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 25.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 22.0 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (16), Moderate learning difficulty (3), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (3), Specific learning difficulty (2), language and communications needs (2), Autistic spectrum disorder (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll144140144167154168
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals10%12%15%12%10%7%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language1%0%1%2%5%5%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support14%15%15%9%11%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans2%1%1%2%2%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.0%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school11.4%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils12.12024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.2%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence5.0%5.1%6.0%5.0%3.3%3.5%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.9%4.4%5.0%4.8%3.2%3.1%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.2%0.8%0.9%0.2%0.1%0.4%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence11.4%16.8%17.7%9.4%5.8%3.6%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate12.10.019.23.96.6
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

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

Teachers7.0full-time equivalent, 9 people
Pupils per teacher20.7Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants6.0full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£55,071
Teachers who left in the year5%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher3.32024/25

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£7,214England £7,738. Total £1.0m
Income per pupil£7,032England £7,697. Total £984k
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,625England £3,480
Money in reserve3%Not much put by: £30k, £216 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£26kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£7,214spent 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 m4012 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate33 per 1,000 people64% lower than the England average
Typical house price£295,000Herefordshire
Nearest bus stop90 mSt Mary's School, 9 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
Stretton Sugwas CofE AcademyAcademy1.1 miles241Good 202468Compare
Burghill Community AcademyAcademy1.4 miles123No overall grade 202575Compare
Trinity Primary SchoolCouncil2.9 miles549Good 202365Compare
Madley Primary SchoolCouncil3.6 miles174No overall grade 202466Compare
Holmer CofE AcademyAcademy3.6 miles417Not inspected85Compare
Clehonger CofE Primary SchoolChurch of England3.7 miles86No overall grade 202438Compare
Canon Pyon CofE AcademyAcademy3.9 miles82Good 202379Compare
Lord Scudamore Primary AcademyAcademy4.0 miles507Good 202328Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares St Mary's CofE Primary School with the 46 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 46 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats9%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
Near the bottom of its group. Its score of 28 is 35 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 4 · middle 63 · highest 96100

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 28 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 28% 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 55. 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
-0.03
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 17 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%below
-0.12
Ofsted report card, 0.4 years old
Progress pupils make20%below
-0.09
DfE progress measure; 17 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%above
+0.04
results and attendance rising year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%in line
+0.03
2024/25; 123 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%below
-0.10
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 17 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 CofE Primary School a good school?

The figures are weak. St Mary's CofE Primary School scores 28 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 9% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 13 to 55, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

What is St Mary's CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 21 April 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.

How good are St Mary's CofE Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 59% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% 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 CofE Primary School have?

144 pupils aged 5 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 210 places, so it is 69% full.

Is St Mary's CofE Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 74 places were empty in 2024/25 (35% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at St Mary's CofE Primary School?

Pupils were in school 95.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 11% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at St Mary's CofE Primary School?

The average class had 24.6 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
Credenhill, Hereford, HR4 7DW
Telephone
01432 760408
Website
www.credenhill.hereford.sch.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Bernadette Davies
Type of school
Church of England school (voluntary controlled) (Voluntary controlled school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 5-11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England, Diocese of Hereford
Local authority
Herefordshire, County of
Ward
Credenhill
Constituency
North Herefordshire
Setting
Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
URN
116799 · LAESTAB 8843026 · UKPRN 10078521

Where these figures come from