St Francis RC Primary School

About St Francis RC Primary School

St Francis RC Primary School’s headline Key Stage 2 results sit below the Southwark local authority average, a gap that parents will want to weigh carefully. The school’s proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined is 61%, compared with the LA average of 68%. That places St Francis 42nd out of 67 primary schools in the borough, firmly in the bottom half of its local peers. The picture is more mixed when you look at individual subjects: 84% of pupils hit the expected standard in reading and 80% in writing, both respectable figures, but maths lags at 70%. At the higher standard, the school’s 16% achieving in all three subjects is modest, though 32% reached the higher bar in reading and 27% in maths. With 40.8% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a significantly disadvantaged cohort, which provides important context for these outcomes.

The school’s most recent graded Ofsted inspection, in 2012, awarded an overall effectiveness rating of Good, with leadership and management also judged Good. An ungraded inspection in June 2023 confirmed the school remains Good, meaning there has been no decline in quality since the previous full inspection. This is a notable improvement from the school’s 2009 inspection, which rated it Requires Improvement across the board. In terms of academic progress, the data does not provide Progress 8 scores for individual subjects, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. However, the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results show reading and maths average scores of 106 and 105 respectively, both slightly above the national benchmark of 100. The school’s national ranking places it in the 54th percentile for the combined expected standard, a middle-of-the-road position.

St Francis is a Roman Catholic primary in Southwark with a nursery provision for children from age three. It is oversubscribed: for 2025/26, there were 38 applications for 22 places, with all 22 first-preference applicants offered a spot, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.73. The school’s facilities are notably strong for a primary, including a sports hall, playing fields, a forest school area, a sensory room, music rooms and a chapel. It offers a wide range of clubs such as chess, choir, gardening, coding and eco club, plus sports including football, cricket, dance and netball. For SEND, the school supports six categories of need, including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language difficulties, and social, emotional and mental health needs. This is a school that suits families prioritising a faith-based environment and a broad extracurricular offer, but who are realistic about academic outcomes that sit below the local average.

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