St Paul's CofE Primary School

About St Paul's CofE Primary School

St Paul's CofE Primary School in Runnymede is a state primary for children aged 4 to 11, and it is currently running very close to full capacity with 412 pupils against a published capacity of 420. That near-full roll makes sense when you look at the demand: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 117 applications for just 59 places, making it officially oversubscribed with an oversubscription ratio of nearly 2:1. Only 54 first-preference families secured a spot. The school’s intake is notably diverse in terms of disadvantage: 28.4% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is significantly higher than the national average for primary schools (around 23%) and well above the Surrey local authority average. This suggests the school serves a genuinely mixed catchment, drawing families from a range of backgrounds. It is a Church of England school, led by headteacher Louise Kaye, and its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022 rated it Good overall, with an Outstanding mark for early years provision.

Academically, St Paul's presents a mixed picture. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 49% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is well below the Surrey local authority average of 66%, and it places the school 15th out of 17 primary schools in the Runnymede local authority area — in the bottom half nationally. Looking at individual subjects, 65% met the expected standard in maths and 62% in both reading and writing, but the proportion reaching the higher standard was low: just 5% in maths, 9% in reading and 0% in writing. Average scaled scores were 101 in maths and 102 in reading, both slightly below the national benchmark of 100. The school’s Ofsted report noted that behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management are all Good, and inspectors judged early years provision to be Outstanding, which points to strong foundations in Reception.

Facilities are a real strength here. The school has a sports hall, gymnasium, playing fields, a forest school area, music rooms, a library and an ICT suite, plus a chapel. Sports on offer include football, netball, cricket, athletics, cross country, dance and rounders, and there are clubs for choir, film and gardening. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists seven SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder, hearing impairment and physical disability. The school is oversubscribed, so anyone considering it should be prepared for a competitive admissions process, particularly for first-preference applications. It suits families who value a Church of England ethos, a broad range of facilities and outdoor learning, and who are comfortable with a school that serves a genuinely mixed socioeconomic intake rather than a uniformly high-attaining one.

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