Hampden Gurney CofE Primary School

About Hampden Gurney CofE Primary School

Hampden Gurney CofE Primary School is a Church of England state primary in Westminster that is very much in demand. With 227 pupils on roll against a capacity of 240, the school is close to full, and its admission data for 2025/26 tells a clear story: 108 families applied for just 29 places, making it heavily oversubscribed with a ratio of 3.72 applicants per place. Of those, 39 put it as their first preference, and 28 first-preference offers were made. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 11.5%, which is below the national average for primary schools, suggesting a relatively advantaged intake compared with many other state schools in the area. The school serves children from age 3 through to 11, with nursery provision on site, and is led by headteacher Evelyn Chua. Its religious character as a Church of England school will appeal to families looking for a faith-based setting within the state system.

Academically, Hampden Gurney is among the highest-performing primary schools in the country. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, every single pupil reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, and 48% achieved the higher standard in all three. The school’s maths results were particularly striking: a perfect 100% of pupils reached the higher standard, with an average scaled score of 117. In reading, 74% hit the higher standard, with an average score of 113, and 52% did so in writing. This places the school second out of 31 primary schools in Westminster, and 43rd nationally out of 13,686 schools — comfortably in the top 0.3% of all primary schools in England. For context, the Westminster local authority average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths is 74%, so Hampden Gurney’s 100% figure is a full 26 percentage points above the local norm.

The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in February 2023, rated it Good overall, with Outstanding grades for early years provision, personal development, and behaviour and attitudes. This is a step down from its previous Outstanding rating in 2009, but the inspectors noted strong leadership and management, and the school continues to perform exceptionally well in exams. Facilities include a forest school, sensory room, chapel, art studios and music rooms, and the school offers a range of clubs from gardening to coding. Its SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties, speech and language needs, social and emotional mental health, multi-sensory impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families who can secure a place, this is a high-performing, oversubscribed Church of England primary that combines strong academic outcomes with a broad enrichment offer, though competition for entry is fierce.

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