St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School

About St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School

If you're a parent weighing up St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School, the numbers from Ofsted's Parent View survey are a good place to start. Of the 247 responses collected between September 2024 and September 2025, a striking 96% said they would recommend the school to other parents. That's a very high level of confidence. The school is also heavily oversubscribed: for 60 places in the 2025/26 intake, there were 135 applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.25. Of those, 54 were first-preference applications, and 53 of those families were offered a place. On the individual questions, the feedback is consistently strong. For example, 98% of parents either agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and the same proportion felt their child is safe. The only area where a small number of parents expressed real dissatisfaction was around SEND support, where 14% disagreed or strongly disagreed that the school gives children the support they need.

Academically, St Polycarp's performs well above the local average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 67% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Surrey local authority average of 66%. The school's score of 67 on this metric places it 14th out of 22 primary schools in Waverley, and 91st out of 298 across the whole of Surrey. In the individual subjects, the school's strongest area is writing, where 89% of pupils met the expected standard and 22% reached the higher standard. Reading also stands out, with 81% at expected and 40% at the higher level. Maths scores are slightly lower, with 76% at expected and an average scaled score of 105. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection, in March 2025, awarded Outstanding grades across every category that was judged: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The previous inspection, in 2015, also rated the school Outstanding overall.

St Polycarp's is a Roman Catholic primary school in Waverley, Surrey, for children aged 4 to 11. It is a state school with a capacity of 420 pupils and currently has 419 on roll, so it is essentially full. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is 9.5%, which is below the national average. The school's facilities include a library, dining hall, playing fields, outdoor playground, gymnasium, sensory room, music rooms, ICT suite and a chapel. Sports on offer include cricket, netball, tennis, athletics, rounders, football and cross country, and there are clubs such as drama, choir, science club, chess and eco club. The school's SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, visual impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. Given the high demand for places and the strong parent satisfaction, this is a school that will particularly suit Catholic families in the Waverley area who value a well-regarded local primary with a clear religious character and strong academic outcomes.

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