Cold Ash St Mark's CE Primary School
Primary · Voluntary controlled school · Ages 5–11 · Thatcham, West Berkshire
Last distance offered · Reception 2026
1.351 miles
Published by West Berkshire Council · offers on 16 April 2026
Nearby schools' earlier years 🔒
Cold Ash St Mark's CE Primary School is a primary school in Thatcham, West Berkshire for ages 5–11 (voluntary controlled school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is School remains Good, from the inspection on 20 March 2024. West Berkshire has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2026 entry.
Cold Ash St Mark's CE Primary School catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Reception 2026 | 1.351 mi |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- Free school meal eligibility stands at 2.1% of pupils, against a middle figure of 17.3% across the 8 nearest primary schools in West Berkshire.
- Reception 2026's last offer went to a child 1.351 miles away, 16th shortest of 59 West Berkshire primary schools with a published Reception 2026 last distance (middle figure 2.78 miles).
- Reception 2026 drew 35 first-choice applications for 29 offers; all 29 went to first-choice families and 6 first-choice families (17%) were not offered a place.
- In 2024/25, 61% met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (England 62%) and 0% reached the higher standard (England 8%).
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other West Berkshire schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- Cold Ash Hill, Cold Ash, Thatcham, RG18 9PT
- Type
- Voluntary controlled school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 5–11
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Council
- West Berkshire
- Pupils on roll
- 195 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 2.1% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 21.9
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
School remains Good Inspected 20 March 2024
Strengths
- “Pupils love attending this school.”
- “Warm relationships permeate the school.”
- “There is a strong sense of belonging, inclusion and community.”
To improve
- “In a few foundation subjects, the school is still refining the precise knowledge that pupils should learn.”
- “This affects how well pupils learn.”
- “In these subjects, because teachers do not know exactly what pupils have learned in the past, they cannot always build on what pupils know and can do.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 7 May 2024 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| Key stage 2 · reading, writing and maths, expected standard (2024/25) | 61% | 62% |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Reception entry: 35 first-preference applications, 29 offers in total, 29 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby primary schools
Straight-line distance, in West Berkshire.
- St Finian's Catholic Primary School 0.5 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Whitelands Park Primary School 1.2 mi Good Last distance published
- Thatcham Park CofE Primary 1.4 mi Good Last distance published
- Curridge Primary School 1.7 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Parsons Down Infant School 1.7 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Parsons Down Junior School 1.8 mi School remains Good
- Francis Baily Primary School 1.9 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Fir Tree Primary School and Nursery 1.9 mi Good Last distance published