Sir William Burrough Primary School

About Sir William Burrough Primary School

Sir William Burrough Primary School has been rated Good in its most recent Ofsted inspection, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating. The inspection, carried out in July 2025, found behaviour and attitudes to be Outstanding, early years provision Outstanding, and both the quality of education and leadership and management Good. On the most telling academic metric, 85% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year. That is well above the Tower Hamlets local authority average of 71% and places the school 7th out of 58 primary schools in the borough, comfortably inside the top 10. In London, it ranks 188th out of 1,592 primary schools, and nationally it sits in the 763rd spot out of 13,686, putting it in the top 6% of all primary schools in England.

Digging deeper into the Key Stage 2 results, the school’s maths performance is particularly strong. 98% of pupils reached the expected standard in maths, with an average scaled score of 109, and 43% achieved the higher standard. In reading, 91% met the expected standard with an average score of 108, and 33% hit the higher threshold. Writing saw 87% at the expected level and 17% at the higher level. Combined, 13% of pupils achieved the higher standard across all three subjects. The school’s ranking score of 85 reflects this solid academic profile. However, the Parent View responses from 27 respondents between September 2024 and September 2025 tell a more mixed story. While 66% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that their child does well at the school, only 33% would recommend it to another parent, and just 26% felt concerns are dealt with properly. 67% said they would not recommend the school.

The school is oversubscribed: for 30 places in the 2025/26 intake, there were 69 applications, a ratio of 2.3 to one, and all 29 first-preference applicants received an offer. Sir William Burrough has a nursery provision for children aged three and above, and the school’s facilities include a forest school, playing fields, an art studio, an ICT suite and a chapel. It offers a range of clubs including film, chess, coding and eco club, and sports such as gymnastics, netball, tennis and athletics. The school has identified SEND provisions for moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. With 33.7% of pupils eligible for free school meals, it serves a diverse community. This is a school that has turned around its Ofsted rating and delivers above-average results, but the parent satisfaction data suggests it may not suit every family’s expectations around communication and pastoral care.

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