Ofsted has put St Thomas' CE Primary on Marriott Street in special measures. Four of seven areas need urgent improvement; a third of Year 6 met the standard.
Ofsted has placed St Thomas’ Church of England Primary School in special measures. The school on Marriott Street, near Stockport town centre, was graded “urgent improvement” in four of the seven areas inspectors judge.
Inspectors visited on 28 April 2026. Ofsted published the report card on 1 October.
Special measures is the most serious outcome Ofsted can give a school. The report says the school is “failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education”. It adds that the people leading and governing it “are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement”.
The grades
| Area | Grade |
|---|---|
| Achievement | Urgent improvement |
| Attendance and behaviour | Urgent improvement |
| Curriculum and teaching | Urgent improvement |
| Leadership and governance | Urgent improvement |
| Inclusion | Needs attention |
| Personal development and wellbeing | Needs attention |
| Early years | Expected standard |
Safeguarding standards are met, the report says.
What inspectors found
On achievement, inspectors wrote that pupils “do not acquire crucial basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics quickly enough”. They called attainment in maths “particularly poor”.
The figures on the report card bear that out. In 2024/25, 33% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. The national average was 62%. In maths alone the school’s figure was 33%, against 74% nationally.
Reading was the one bright spot. In 2024/25, 80% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, close to the national 75%.
Attendance was the other main concern. “Too many pupils are persistently absent from school,” the report says. In 2024/25, 26.2% of pupils missed at least one session in ten, against 13.0% nationally. That was down from 40.8% the year before.
Inspectors were most critical of leadership. They said:
- the school’s “capacity to improve is weak and is overly reliant on external support”
- leaders’ evaluations of teaching are “over generous and often based on superficial insights”
- governors “have also failed to hold school leaders to account”
- a high turnover of governors and chairs had made things worse
Under special measures, the school may not appoint early career teachers before Ofsted’s next monitoring inspection.
What is going well
The report is not all negative. Inspectors found that:
- children “get off to a good start” in the early years, which was graded at the expected standard
- pupils “behave well and demonstrate positive attitudes to learning”
- leaders work well with outside agencies to support children in care and those known to social care
- staff have protected time for extra duties, and leaders are “considerate of staff wellbeing”
A school with high needs, and a disrupted few years
St Thomas’ is a small voluntary controlled Church of England school in the Diocese of Chester, for children aged three to 11. It had 150 pupils at the inspection, with room for 230.
Its intake has far higher needs than most schools. According to the report card:
- 50.71% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, against 26.3% nationally
- 24.67% receive special educational needs support, against 15% nationally
Inspectors said these pupils “make up the majority of the school”, and that governors had “significant gaps” in understanding their needs.
The school has also had a hard few years. Ofsted’s monitoring letter from April 2025 records that pupils in Years 1 to 6 were bussed every day to another school site for an extended period. That was while RAAC, the lightweight concrete found in many school buildings, was dealt with at the school. The same letter noted several temporary staff appointments and a new chair of governors.
Third weak inspection in a row
The school was judged “requires improvement” in September 2019 and again in September 2023. Before that it had been rated good.
The 2026 report says leaders and governors “have allowed many of the same weaknesses to persist over time without securing meaningful improvement”.
What happens next
Ofsted will return for monitoring inspections. The report sets out what the school must do, including:
- build its own capacity to improve, rather than relying on outside support
- give governors the knowledge and skills to carry out their legal duties
- find and tackle the reasons pupils miss school
- fix the design and teaching of the curriculum so pupils are ready for secondary school
Neither the school nor Stockport Council had published a response when we checked on 30 October. The school’s website still carries its 2023 report on its Ofsted page, and now lists an acting headteacher.
What it means for you
- If your child is at St Thomas’: the full report card is free to read on Ofsted’s website.
- If you are applying for a primary place for September 2027: the grades, results and absence figures for any school are on its Ofsted report card, and the Compare school performance service sets them side by side.
- You can give your view on the school through Ofsted Parent View.
Sources
- Ofsted report card for St Thomas’ Church of England Primary School Stockport, inspection of 28 April 2026, published 1 October 2026
- Ofsted’s monitoring letter, April 2025, and inspection reports from September 2023 and September 2019
- Get Information about Schools: St Thomas’ CE Primary School
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