St Mark's Church of England Primary School

About St Mark's Church of England Primary School

St Mark's Church of England Primary School sits within Hampshire local authority, in the Basingstoke and Deane borough, and ranks 12th out of 40 primary schools in that borough based on the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2. That places it comfortably in the top third of its immediate local area. Among its closest peers in the same authority, the top performers are Preston Candover Church of England Primary School, Our Lady and St Joseph Catholic Primary School, and St Faith's Church of England Primary School, all of which score higher on the same metric. St Mark's itself achieves a ranking score of 70, putting it in the top 50 nationally for this measure. The school is a large, mixed-gender, state-funded primary with a Church of England character, led by headteacher Charles Applegate. It has a capacity of 630 pupils and currently enrols 626, so it is effectively full. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is 9.7%, below the national average, reflecting the relatively affluent catchment.

In its most recent graded Ofsted inspection, carried out in January 2014, St Mark's was rated Good overall, with Good for leadership and management and Good for early years provision. An ungraded inspection in November 2023 confirmed the school remains Good. At Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year, 70% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is nine percentage points above the Hampshire local authority average of 61%. The school also performs well at the higher standard: 14% of pupils achieved greater depth across all three subjects. In reading, the average scaled score was 107, with 40% reaching the higher standard; in maths, the average score was 105, with 26% at the higher level. Writing also saw strong results, with 84% meeting the expected standard and 24% reaching greater depth. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points.

The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 224 applications for 88 places, with 122 families listing it as their first preference, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.55. Facilities include a library, dining hall, playing fields, gymnasium, sensory room and chapel. Sports on offer include football, athletics, rounders, tennis, swimming and cross country, and there are clubs such as science club, coding, book club, chess and choir. The school has a broad range of SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, and physical disability, as well as a resourced provision. This makes it a strong choice for families in Basingstoke and Deane who want a large, popular Church of England primary with solid academic outcomes above the local average, a wide range of enrichment activities, and well-documented support for children with additional needs.

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