St Mary's RC Primary School
Voluntary aided school in Manchester, M34 2AR, taking ages 3 to 11, 228 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 2.63 miles Tameside published for latest published year, as the checker measures.
Opened on this device and kept on it only: just their postcodes are sent, to this site, to measure them.
Sign up and the homes you open are kept in My properties, so this list is here on any phone or computer.
Will an address get in?
In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 2.63 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Primary applications close 15 January 2027; offers on 16 April 2027.
How this compares: every Tameside school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 2.63 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.
St Mary's RC Primary School: 2.63 miles Dowson Primary Academy: 0.44 miles, published by Tameside
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When St Mary's RC Primary School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.
Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children and faith criteria come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.
Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary. The labels on the map are postcode districts whose centre falls inside both circles; each opens the district's guide.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
Source: Tameside, published admission distances
Where St Mary's RC Primary School and Dowson Primary Academy are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Dowson Primary Academy admitted from 0.44 miles in the latest published year, published by Tameside. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 2.63 and 0.44 miles, and the ground those circles share holds no district centre, which is a fact about where the centres fall rather than about any one address. The map above shows both, and the postcode checker answers for both.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop Dowson Primary Academy and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Tameside, 29 of 206 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (14.1%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.
Other schools nearby with a published distance
The closest schools to St Mary's RC Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audenshaw School Both in reach | Secondary | 2.07 mi | 1.0 mi |
| Audenshaw Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.5 mi | 1.4 mi |
| St Peter's CofE Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.65 mi | 1.6 mi |
| Vale View Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 3.28 mi 2026/27 | 1.7 mi |
| Westmorland Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.58 mi 2026/27 | 1.8 mi |
| Dowson Primary Academy Both in reach | Primary | 0.44 mi | 1.9 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Religious character | Roman Catholic |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 228 pupils in 210 places (109% full, over capacity) |
| Local authority | Tameside |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Meeting the expected standard | 36.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25) |
| Year | Meeting the expected standard |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 36.0% |
| 2023/24 | 63.0% |
| 2022/23 | 48.0% |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to St Mary's RC Primary School
| Girls and boys | 43.4% girls, 56.6% boys |
| English as an additional language | 12.3% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 15.8% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
What it costs to live within reach of St Mary's RC Primary School
Cheapest district inside the 2.63 miles: M18, median £155,000. Dearest: SK5, £232,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| M18 | Manchester | 2.4 mi | £155,000 86 sales |
| OL7 | Tameside | 2.6 mi | £170,000 38 sales |
| M34 | Tameside | 0.3 mi | £175,000 73 sales |
| SK16 | Tameside | 2.0 mi | £205,000 102 sales |
| M43 | Tameside | 2.5 mi | £220,000 82 sales |
| SK14 | Tameside | 2.4 mi | £222,000 121 sales |
| SK5 | Stockport | 2.0 mi | £232,000 135 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 2.63 miles the school admitted from in the latest published year, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.
How this compares across England: what a tight gate costs, school by school.
Source: HM Land Registry sold prices, via each district's area guide
Getting to St Mary's RC Primary School by bus
Best-served stop: Pitt Street, 145 yd away, with 9.3 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 05:09, last 00:45 after midnight.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitt Street | 133 yd | 9.1 | 5.5 | 4.8 | 347, 202, 327, 345, 747 |
| Pitt Street | 145 yd | 9.3 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 347, 202, 327, 345, 705, 719 |
| St Lawrence's Church | 171 yd | 9.1 | 5.5 | 4.8 | 347, 202, 327, 345, 747 |
These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing St Mary's RC Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around M34: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at M34 2AR, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for St Mary's RC Primary School?
St Mary's RC Primary School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in the latest published year lived 2.63 miles away, per Tameside.
How close do I need to live to get a place at St Mary's RC Primary School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 2.63 miles was enough in the latest published year, and at 109% full the school has little slack. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near St Mary's RC Primary School guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings and faith criteria ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Tameside school's distance
All Tameside schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put St Mary's RC Primary School's figure on your own site
A small badge with the published distance that links back here, for a school website, parents' group or forum.
Show the badge and its code
Admission distance published by Tameside. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.