Parkway Primary School

About Parkway Primary School

Parkway Primary School in Bexley was rated Good in its most recent graded Ofsted inspection, a notable improvement from its previous rating of Requires Improvement. The school's leadership and management, as well as its early years provision, were also judged to be Good. However, the most telling academic metric comes from the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results: only 50% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. This places the school 48th out of 55 primary schools in Bexley, putting it in the bottom half of the local authority. For context, the Bexley local authority average for the same combined measure is 67%, meaning Parkway trails the typical local school by a significant margin. The school's ranking in London is similarly low, sitting in the 92nd percentile nationally, which suggests that while it is a Good school by Ofsted's standards, its academic outcomes are not keeping pace with many of its neighbours.

Looking more closely at the individual subject scores, the picture is mixed. In reading, 70% of pupils reached the expected standard and 40% achieved a higher standard, with an average scaled score of 107. Maths saw 70% at the expected level and 23% at the higher level, with an average score of 105. Writing was weaker, with 63% reaching the expected standard and only 13% hitting the higher mark. The combined expected standard of 50% is the headline figure that parents will want to weigh carefully. The school's progress scores for reading, writing and maths are not available in the data, so it is difficult to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. What is clear is that while Parkway is not a failing school, its academic results are below the local norm, and it ranks well behind top-performing Bexley primaries like St Thomas More Catholic Primary School.

Parkway is a mixed, state primary for children aged 3 to 11, with a nursery provision on site. It has capacity for 306 pupils but currently enrols 245, so there is some slack in the numbers. Despite this, the school was oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, receiving 55 applications for 21 places, with 20 first-preference offers made. The oversubscription ratio of 2.62 suggests it is a popular choice locally. The school has a relatively high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 32.2%, which is above the national average. Facilities include music rooms, an ICT suite, art studios, a sports hall and a chapel. Sports on offer include athletics, netball, swimming, tennis and cricket, while clubs range from drama and book club to science and film club. SEND provision is well-documented, covering dyslexia, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder, social and emotional mental health, and a resourced provision. This school may suit families who value a Good Ofsted rating and a broad range of activities, but who are comfortable with academic results that sit below the local average.

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