St Barnabas Church of England School, Market Lavington

About St Barnabas Church of England School, Market Lavington

St Barnabas Church of England School in Market Lavington is a small primary with 130 pupils, and its most recent Ofsted inspection rated it Good overall, a clear step up from its previous Requires Improvement rating. However, the school does not have published Key Stage 2 SATs results or a Progress 8 score in the data, so it is not possible to compare its headline academic metrics directly against the Wiltshire local authority average of 58 for KS2 attainment. What the data does show is that the school is oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 17 applications for just 8 places, with all 8 first-preference applicants offered a spot. That oversubscription ratio of 2.13 suggests strong local demand, even without published exam scores to benchmark against the LA average. The school’s Good rating, combined with its Church of England character and nursery provision for children from age two, likely makes it a popular choice among families in the area.

Academically, the most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2015 rated the school Good overall, with leadership and management also judged Good. The early years provision was rated Good in the 2018 ungraded inspection, which confirmed the school remains Good. The previous inspection in 2013 had rated the school Requires Improvement, so the trajectory has been positive. Without published KS2 results or a Progress 8 figure, it is impossible to say how pupils here perform relative to the Wiltshire average of 58 for primary schools. The data does not include any exam outcomes, so parents will need to rely on the Ofsted judgment and the school’s own published performance data. The school’s small size means class sizes are likely modest, and the range of clubs — including gardening, art, drama, film club, choir, and science club — suggests a broad enrichment offer beyond the core curriculum.

The school sits on a site with playing fields, a sports hall, a library, music rooms, an ICT suite, a chapel, and a Forest School area, which is a notable facility for a primary of this size. Sports on offer include rounders, cricket, football, netball, and swimming. SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, speech, language and communication needs, autistic spectrum disorder, and other difficulty or disability. With 16.2% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a mixed catchment. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is The Holy Trinity Church of England Primary Academy, 3.7 km away, but St Barnabas’s oversubscription suggests it holds its own locally. This school will suit families who value a Church of England setting, a strong outdoor learning offer, and a small, community-focused environment where the headteacher knows every child by name.

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