Penwortham Primary School

About Penwortham Primary School

Penwortham Primary School’s headline metrics put it well ahead of the Wandsworth local authority average for primary schools. While the LA average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (RWM) at Key Stage 2 sits at 68%, Penwortham achieves 83% — a full 15 percentage points higher. That places the school 10th out of 55 primaries in the borough, comfortably inside the top 20%. Its performance is also strong at the higher end: 20% of pupils reach the higher standard in all three subjects, and in reading alone that figure climbs to 50%. The school’s Ofsted rating is Outstanding across every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — following its most recent graded inspection in June 2024. That’s an upgrade from its previous Good rating in 2013, and it puts Penwortham among just 13 Outstanding primaries in Wandsworth out of 62 total.

Digging into the detail of the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, Penwortham’s strengths are consistent across the core subjects. In maths, 90% of pupils met the expected standard and 44% reached the higher standard, with an average scaled score of 108. Reading tells a similar story: 89% at expected and 50% at higher, also averaging 108. Writing sees 90% at expected and 28% at higher. The school doesn’t publish progress scores, so it’s not possible to compare how much value it adds relative to pupils’ starting points, but the raw attainment figures are clearly above the national average. Nationally, Penwortham ranks in the top 7% of all primary schools for the proportion of pupils reaching the expected RWM standard. The school is large, with 669 pupils on roll against a capacity of 685, and 16% of pupils are eligible for free school meals — a figure that suggests a reasonably diverse intake.

Penwortham is oversubscribed by a considerable margin. For 2025/26 entry, there were 243 applications for 90 places, with 107 first-preference applications and 83 first-preference offers — an oversubscription ratio of 2.7. That reflects its strong local reputation. The school offers a nursery provision and a wide range of facilities including a sensory room, forest school, art studios, gymnasium and a chapel. Sports on offer include netball, tennis, athletics and gymnastics, while clubs range from chess and choir to eco club and coding. SEND provision is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, autistic spectrum disorder and social, emotional and mental health support. This is a school that suits families looking for high academic attainment in a large, well-resourced setting, with strong pastoral and SEND infrastructure — and they’ll need to apply early to secure a place.

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