Harris Primary Academy Merton

About Harris Primary Academy Merton

Harris Primary Academy Merton is a mixed state primary for ages 2 to 11, currently home to 491 pupils against a capacity of 524. That leaves a small cushion of unfilled places, but don't let that fool you: the school is heavily oversubscribed. For the 2025/26 intake, it received 158 applications for just 60 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.63. Of those, 66 put it as their first preference, and only 55 first-preference offers were made. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 30.3%, well above the national average and a clear signal that this is a genuinely inclusive school serving a diverse local community. Headteacher Emma Catley leads a school that has seen a remarkable turnaround: its most recent graded inspection in 2017 rated it Outstanding overall, with leadership and management also Outstanding. That's a dramatic shift from its previous graded inspection in 2013, when it was rated Inadequate across the board.

Academically, the school performs solidly above the local authority average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 69% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Merton LA average of 68%. The school's ranking score of 69 places it 18th out of 42 primaries in the borough, putting it in the top half locally. Individual subject scores are strong: 84% met expectations in both maths and writing, and 79% in reading. At the higher standard, 25% of pupils achieved above the expected level in reading, 16% in maths and 11% in writing. Average scaled scores were 104 in maths and 106 in reading. The school has no official sixth form, as expected for a primary, but its nursery provision means children can join from age 2. The most recent ungraded inspection in February 2024 confirmed the school remains Outstanding, with early years provision also rated Outstanding.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including art studios, a library, a sensory room, forest school provision and a dining hall. Sports on offer include athletics, cricket, football and dance, while clubs cover drama, choir, book club and chess. SEND provision is extensive, with support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. There is also a resourced provision on site. The school is non-religious and does not have a chapel, despite the facilities list mentioning one. This is a school that suits families looking for a genuinely inclusive, high-performing primary with strong SEND support, in a London borough where only 10 out of 44 primaries hold an Outstanding rating. The nearest other Outstanding school is St Mark's Primary School, 1.9 km away.

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