Market Harborough Church of England Academy

About Market Harborough Church of England Academy

Market Harborough Church of England Academy’s headline Key Stage 2 results sit comfortably above the Leicestershire local authority average for primary schools. The school’s proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined stands at 72%, compared with a LA average of 62% — a ten-percentage-point gap that puts it in the top quarter of schools nationally. That performance also earns it a rank of 8th out of 32 primary schools within the Harborough district, placing it in the top 25% locally. The school’s reading and maths average scaled scores of 106 and 105 respectively reinforce this picture of solid, above-average attainment. While the data doesn’t include progress scores, the raw outcomes suggest pupils are leaving Year 6 well prepared for secondary school. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in January 2025, rated it Good overall, with leadership and management, early years provision and behaviour all judged Good. That’s a notable improvement from its previous graded inspection in 2019, when the school was rated Requires Improvement.

Academic outcomes are strong across the core subjects, though the picture is slightly uneven. In reading, 87% of pupils met the expected standard and 30% reached the higher standard — a healthy showing. Maths saw 83% at expected and 19% at the higher threshold. Writing was a little lower, with 81% at expected and just 6% at the higher level. The combined expected standard figure of 72% is well above the LA average of 62%, and the school ranks 52nd out of 231 primaries across the whole of Leicestershire. At the top end, only 4% of pupils achieved the higher standard in all three subjects, which is a modest figure and suggests the school’s strength lies more in securing solid foundations than in pushing large numbers to the highest tier. Nationally, the school sits in the 26th percentile for the combined expected measure, meaning roughly three-quarters of primaries nationally have a lower proportion of pupils reaching that benchmark. Parents are overwhelmingly positive: 94% would recommend the school, and 97% agree or strongly agree their child is happy here.

The school is a Church of England primary with a capacity of 415 and currently 396 pupils on roll, so it’s running close to full. It is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry there were 129 applications for 42 places, a ratio of just over 3:1, with all 39 first-preference applicants offered a place. That suggests demand is high but that local families who put it first are likely to get in. Facilities include a forest school, chapel, music rooms, art studios and a sports hall, and the school runs clubs in coding, chess, gardening and art. Sport provision covers football, netball, cricket, gymnastics, cross country and rounders. The school’s SEND register covers specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, speech and language needs, social and emotional mental health needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is 14.1%, slightly below the national average for primary schools. This is a school that suits families looking for a strong academic baseline in a popular, oversubscribed village setting with a clear Christian character and a good range of enrichment.

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