Stanley Primary School

About Stanley Primary School

Stanley Primary School in Richmond upon Thames is a mixed state primary for children aged 3 to 11, currently home to 447 pupils against a capacity of 560. That leaves some headroom, but the demand tells a different story: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 189 applications for just 45 places, an oversubscription ratio of 4.2 to one. Of those, 41 first-preference families were offered a spot, suggesting it is a popular choice among local parents despite not being full to the brim. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 27.8%, notably higher than the national average for primary schools, which typically hovers around 23-24%. This gives the school a more diverse socioeconomic intake than many of its neighbours in this generally affluent borough, and headteacher Simon Hawley leads a team that has clearly built a reputation strong enough to attract nearly four times as many applicants as places available.

Academically, Stanley Primary sits in the middle of the pack locally. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 66% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is below the Richmond upon Thames local authority average of 76%. The school ranks 32nd out of 38 primaries in the borough on this metric, placing it in the bottom 16% locally. Nationally, it sits around the 42nd percentile. That said, the picture is more nuanced when you look at individual subjects: 84% hit the expected standard in maths and 82% in reading, both solid figures, while writing lagged at 70%. At the higher standard, 39% of pupils achieved in reading and 30% in maths, though only 13% managed the higher threshold across all three subjects. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2024 confirmed it remains Good, a significant improvement from its 2016 Requires Improvement rating, with leadership and management and early years provision both rated Good.

The school offers a decent range of facilities including a library, music rooms, gymnasium, art studios and a chapel, plus sports such as football, netball, gymnastics and cross country. Clubs include coding, gardening and chess. For families with children who have additional needs, Stanley has a broad SEND offer, with provisions for dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language challenges, visual impairment and autistic spectrum disorder, as well as a resourced provision. The school also has a nursery for three-year-olds. Given its oversubscription, parents should definitely put it as a first preference to maximise their chances. It will suit families who value a diverse intake and a school that has demonstrably turned around its performance, though those prioritising top-tier academic outcomes within the borough may want to look at higher-ranked peers like St Richard Reynolds or Deer Park, both of which sit just 0.4 km away.

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