Mission Grove Primary School

About Mission Grove Primary School

Mission Grove Primary School in Waltham Forest holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained since its most recent ungraded inspection in 2023, which confirmed the school remains Good. However, the academic outcomes story is more nuanced. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, just 48% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. This is significantly below the Waltham Forest local authority average of 74%, and places Mission Grove 47th out of 48 primary schools in the borough on this metric. The school ranks in the bottom 50 nationally. Looking at individual subjects, 71% of pupils reached the expected standard in writing, 69% in reading, and 60% in maths. The proportion achieving the higher standard in all three subjects was just 1%, though 20% reached that higher level in reading and 12% in maths. The school’s average scaled scores were 104 in reading and 102 in maths, both slightly above the national baseline of 100.

The school’s Ofsted history shows it was previously rated Outstanding in 2008, but its most recent graded inspection in 2012 judged it Good, a rating that has held across subsequent monitoring visits. The inspection report from 2023 noted that leadership and management remain Good. The school is large, with 844 pupils on roll against a capacity of 900, and it offers nursery provision for children from age two. A relatively high proportion of pupils, 31.6%, are eligible for free school meals, which is well above the national average and provides important context for the school’s attainment figures. The school’s SEND provisions are extensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder, and physical disabilities, among others.

Mission Grove is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 237 applications for 105 places, with 96 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.26. The school offers a broad range of facilities including a Forest School, sports hall, ICT suite, art studios, music rooms, and a chapel. Sports on offer include gymnastics, tennis, cross country, dance, football, cricket, and swimming, while clubs include eco club, gardening, drama, and choir. For families considering this school, it is worth noting that the nearest Outstanding-rated primary is South Grove, just half a kilometre away. Mission Grove will suit families who value its inclusive SEND support and wide extracurricular offer, but who are comfortable with its below-average academic outcomes compared with other schools in the borough.

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