St Mark's Church of England Academy

About St Mark's Church of England Academy

St Mark’s Church of England Academy in Merton holds a Good rating from its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022, a grade it has maintained across both its last two inspections. The school’s Progress 8 score, which measures how much pupils improve between the end of primary school and their GCSEs, stands at 0.63. That is exactly in line with the Merton local authority average of 0.63, placing the school on a par with the typical secondary in the borough. This is a solid, middle-of-the-road performance in a London borough where five out of nine state secondaries are rated Outstanding. For context, the nearest Outstanding school is Harris Academy Merton, just 1.5 km away, so families in the area do have higher-rated options nearby. Still, St Mark’s has held its Good rating consistently, and the 2022 inspection gave it Good marks across every category inspected — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management — with no weak spots flagged.

Academically, the school’s Progress 8 score of 0.63 means pupils on average achieve about two-thirds of a grade higher per subject than similar pupils nationally. That is a respectable result, especially given that 46.3 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. The school does not have a sixth form, so students typically move on elsewhere after Year 11. In terms of Ofsted’s breakdown, the 2022 inspection gave Good ratings for quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership. The previous inspection in 2017 also rated overall effectiveness as Good, with leadership and management at Good and early years provision at Requires Improvement — that early years grade has since been upgraded to Good. So the trajectory is positive, and the school appears to be delivering consistent outcomes for a diverse intake.

St Mark’s is heavily oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 academic year, it received 492 applications for 115 places, an oversubscription ratio of 4.28. Of those, 190 were first-preference applications, and 104 first-preference offers were made. That suggests strong local demand. The school is a Church of England academy, mixed, and caters for ages 11 to 18, though without a sixth form. Facilities are comprehensive: a library, sports hall, science labs, theatre, music rooms, art studios, astro turf, playing fields, and a chapel. SEND provision is broad, covering dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Clubs include Model UN, DofE, coding, and Young Enterprise. This is a school that suits families looking for a well-resourced, inclusive secondary with strong local reputation and consistent academic outcomes, particularly those who value a Church of England ethos and don’t need a sixth form on site.

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