St Barnabas CofE Primary School

About St Barnabas CofE Primary School

St Barnabas CofE Primary School in Leicester holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across its most recent inspections. The school’s most recent graded inspection took place in 2013, and an ungraded inspection in 2023 confirmed it remains Good, with leadership and management also rated Good. The most telling exam metric is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at Key Stage 2: 64% of pupils achieved this benchmark in the 2023/24 academic year. That figure sits just above the Leicester local authority average of 62%, placing St Barnabas 32nd out of 68 primary schools in the area. While no pupils reached the higher standard across all three subjects, individual subject scores tell a more nuanced story. The average maths score was 103, with 20% of pupils reaching the higher standard in maths, compared with 9% in reading and just 4% in writing.

Looking more closely at the breakdown, 73% of pupils met the expected standard in maths, 69% in reading, and 76% in writing. These are solid, if not spectacular, results that reflect a school performing broadly in line with or slightly above local norms. Nationally, St Barnabas ranks in the 46th percentile among all primary schools, and within the East Midlands it sits in the 42nd percentile. The school’s ranking score of 64 is based on the combined reading, writing and maths expected standard metric. For context, the top-performing school in Leicester, Whitehall Primary School, scores 91, so there is a gap to the very best. However, St Barnabas is comfortably in the top half of Leicester primaries, and its results suggest consistent teaching rather than exceptional spikes in performance. The school has no official sixth form and does not publish Progress 8 scores, so the focus is squarely on Key Stage 2 outcomes.

St Barnabas is a Church of England primary school for children aged 3 to 11, with a nursery on site. It has 333 pupils against a capacity of 338, so it is nearly full, and it was oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake: 38 places attracted 58 applications, with 37 first-preference offers made. That gives an oversubscription ratio of 1.53, meaning it is a popular choice locally. The school offers a broad range of facilities including a forest school, chapel, art studios, music rooms, sports hall and playing fields. Clubs include drama, eco club, choir, film club, science club and art club, while sports on offer are tennis, netball, gymnastics, athletics, rounders, cross country and swimming. SEND provision covers moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, and hearing impairment. For families seeking a state primary with a Christian character, solid academic results and a strong local reputation, St Barnabas is a sensible option, though those aiming for the highest academic outcomes may want to compare it with the five Outstanding-rated primaries in Leicester, the nearest of which is Catherine Infant School, 1.5 km away.

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