St Monica's Catholic Primary School

About St Monica's Catholic Primary School

St Monica’s Catholic Primary School sits within Hackney, a London borough with 51 primary schools, 21 of which hold an Outstanding Ofsted rating. The school itself is rated Good, a grade it has maintained across its two most recent graded inspections, including the most recent in 2013 and an ungraded inspection in 2022 that confirmed it remains Good. Among its local peers, the top-performing primaries in Hackney are Simon Marks Jewish Primary School, Southwold Primary School and Grazebrook Primary School, all of which rank higher on the local benchmark. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is St John the Baptist Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School, just 0.4 km away. St Monica’s is a Roman Catholic state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 2 to 11, with a nursery provision on site. It is led by headteacher Amanda Ruthven and has a capacity of 240, though its current roll stands at 197 pupils.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted report rated leadership and management as Good, and overall effectiveness as Good. The previous graded inspection in 2009 also rated overall effectiveness as Good, with early years provision and leadership and management both scoring 2 on the four-point scale. While the data does not include specific Key Stage 2 SATs results for St Monica’s, the local authority average for KS2 attainment in Hackney is 74. The school serves a notably diverse intake: 38.3 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average, reflecting the community it draws from. There is no sixth form provision, as the school covers primary years only. The school’s admission data for the 2025/26 intake shows it is oversubscribed: 29 applications were received for 14 places, with 13 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.07.

Facilities include playing fields, a sports hall, gymnasium, dining hall, art studios and a chapel, supporting a broad range of activities. Sports on offer include swimming, cricket, tennis and cross country, while clubs extend to film, gardening, science, art and coding. The school has designated SEND provisions for social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and hearing impairment. With its nursery provision, strong Catholic character and oversubscribed places, St Monica’s is likely to suit families who prioritise a faith-based primary education within a diverse, inner-London setting and who are prepared to apply early given the competition for places. Its Good rating and stable leadership suggest a consistent offer, though parents seeking an Outstanding rating may want to consider the nearby St John the Baptist school.

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