Cowley St Laurence CofE Primary School

About Cowley St Laurence CofE Primary School

Cowley St Laurence CofE Primary School sits in the middle of the pack in Hillingdon, but its headline KS2 figure tells a slightly more nuanced story. The local authority average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined is 64%. At Cowley St Laurence, that figure is 57% — seven points below the LA average, which places the school 41st out of 67 primary schools in the borough and in the bottom half nationally. However, the picture isn't uniformly below par. In reading and writing individually, 70% of pupils met the expected standard, and the average scaled scores in both reading and maths sit at 103 — exactly in line with the national average of 100. So while the combined measure lags, individual subject performance is more solid, and the school's ranking within London (1338 out of 1592) reflects a similar pattern of being slightly below the regional norm.

Academically, the school's most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2013 rated it Good overall, with leadership and management also judged Good. A subsequent ungraded inspection in 2022 confirmed the school remains Good. This is a notable improvement from its previous inspection in 2010, when it was rated Requires Improvement across the board. At KS2, the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard in maths is 24%, in reading 20%, and in writing just 11% — figures that suggest the school is stronger at moving pupils to the expected level than pushing them into the top tier. No progress scores are available in the data, so it's hard to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points, but the raw attainment figures place it firmly in the middle of the pack locally.

Cowley St Laurence is a Church of England primary with a nursery, catering for children from age 3 to 11. It's oversubscribed: for 2025/26, there were 107 applications for 49 places, with 47 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.18. The school has a broad range of facilities including a forest school, sensory room, chapel, music rooms and a sports hall, and offers clubs like gardening, chess, choir and eco club. Sports on offer include gymnastics, cricket, netball, rounders, football, cross country and swimming. SEND provision covers autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, physical disability and social, emotional and mental health support. With 28.5% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively diverse intake. It will suit families who value a Good-rated, faith-based primary with strong nursery provision and a wide extracurricular offer, but who are realistic about its middling academic outcomes compared to the strongest local primaries.

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