South Marston Church of England Primary School

About South Marston Church of England Primary School

Parents at South Marston Church of England Primary School are overwhelmingly positive about their children’s experience. In the most recent Parent View survey, covering responses from September 2024 to September 2025, 86% of the 21 respondents said they would recommend the school to other parents. That’s a strong signal, and the detail backs it up: 95% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and the same proportion felt their child is safe. The school is clearly popular locally too. For the 2025/26 academic year, it received 26 applications for just 12 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.17. All 12 first-preference applicants were offered a place, but with more than twice as many applications as spaces, getting in is competitive. The school is a Church of England primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 4 to 11, with a nursery provision, and is led by headteacher Marie Hendry.

Academically, South Marston performs around the middle of the pack in Swindon. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 55% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That’s below the local authority average of 62%, and places the school 33rd out of 51 primary schools in Swindon, putting it in the bottom half of the LA rankings. However, the picture varies by subject. Writing was a clear strength, with 91% of pupils meeting the expected standard, and reading was not far behind at 64%. Maths was more of a challenge, with 55% at the expected level. At the higher standard, 27% of pupils achieved above the expected level in reading, while 18% did so in maths. No pupils reached the higher standard in writing or in the combined measure. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in January 2025, confirmed that standards are being maintained, and the school continues to hold a Good rating overall.

The school is well equipped for a relatively small setting, with 96 pupils on roll against a capacity of 105. Facilities include a sports hall, playing fields, music rooms, an art studio, a sensory room and a chapel. Sports on offer include cricket, football, gymnastics and rounders, while clubs cover drama, choir, chess and coding. The school’s SEND provisions are broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, speech, language and communication needs, social, emotional and mental health needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. Interestingly, the Parent View survey received no responses from parents of children with SEND, so there is no direct feedback on that provision. Given its oversubscription and strong parent satisfaction scores, South Marston suits families who value a close-knit, church-affiliated primary with good pastoral signals, but who are comfortable with academic results that sit below the local average in core subjects.

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