St Matthew's CofE Primary School

About St Matthew's CofE Primary School

St Matthew's CofE Primary School in Reigate and Banstead is a popular choice among local families, with 109 applications for 51 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.14. Of those, 39 families put it as their first preference, and all 39 received offers. The school is a state primary for children aged 3 to 11, with a Church of England character, and currently has 401 pupils on roll against a capacity of 460. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, in 2022, rated the school Good across every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. That marks a significant turnaround from the previous inspection in 2016, when the school was rated Inadequate overall, with leadership and management also Inadequate and early years provision Requiring Improvement.

Academically, the school's Key Stage 2 results for 2023/24 show 56% of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — below the local authority average of 66%. In reading, 76% reached the expected standard and 26% achieved a higher standard; in writing, 70% met expectations and 10% reached the higher mark; in maths, 66% hit the expected standard and 20% achieved the higher score. Average scores in reading and maths were both 103. The school's ranking within Reigate and Banstead places it 19th out of 21 primary schools on the combined expected standard metric, putting it in the bottom half nationally. A small proportion of pupils — 8% — reached the higher standard across all three subjects. The school has a relatively high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 26.5%, which may be a factor in its overall attainment profile.

The school offers a range of facilities including a sports hall, playing fields, library, chapel, art studios and an outdoor playground. Sports on offer include gymnastics, football, cricket, dance, cross country and rounders, and there are clubs such as book club, art club and science club. For children with additional needs, the school provides support for moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder, and it has a dedicated SEN unit. The nearest outstanding-rated primary school is Lime Tree Primary School and Nursery, 1.6 km away. St Matthew's is a good fit for families who value a church school with strong pastoral support and a broad range of activities, and who are comfortable with a school that is improving but still below the local average on academic outcomes.

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