St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School

About St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School in Lambeth is a state primary that performs notably above the local authority average on the key KS2 benchmark. In the 2023/24 academic year, 77% of its pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Lambeth average of 66% for all primary schools. That puts the school 13th out of 54 primaries in the borough, comfortably inside the top 25% nationally. The school is also oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 89 applications for 34 places, with 33 of those coming as first preferences. That ratio of 2.62 applicants per place suggests strong local demand, and the school's popularity makes sense given its consistent academic performance relative to its peers.

Digging into the KS2 results, the school's strengths are clearest in reading, where the average scaled score was 110 and 59% of pupils achieved the higher standard. In maths, the average score was 107, with 33% reaching the higher threshold. Writing was a relative weak spot: 82% met the expected standard and 33% hit the higher mark. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection, in November 2024, rated it Good overall, with personal development judged Outstanding. That's a shift from its previous inspection in 2014, when it was rated Outstanding across the board. The inspection report noted that behaviour and attitudes, quality of education, and leadership and management are all Good, while early years provision is also Good. Parent feedback from the Parent View survey covering September 2024 to September 2025 was largely positive: 87% of respondents would recommend the school, and 87% strongly agreed or agreed that their child is happy there.

The school serves a diverse community: 35.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, above the national average. Facilities include a sports hall, outdoor playground, ICT suite, forest school, art studios and a chapel. There's a nursery on site, and the school offers a range of clubs including choir, art, coding, chess and drama. For children with additional needs, the school lists support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Bonneville Primary School, 0.7 km away. St Mary's is a good fit for families who want a Catholic primary with solid academic results, a strong personal development focus, and a broad range of enrichment activities, but who are comfortable with the fact that it's oversubscribed and requires a first-preference application to secure a place.

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