Tilney St Lawrence Community Primary School

About Tilney St Lawrence Community Primary School

Tilney St Lawrence Community Primary School is a small state primary in Norfolk, and the numbers suggest a school that local families are keen to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 25 applications for just 13 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.92. All 13 first-preference applicants were offered a place, which is a positive signal for parents who put it top of their list. However, it is worth noting that the school does not currently have a parent view score from Ofsted’s Parent View service, so there is no direct survey data on how families rate the experience. With 87 pupils on roll against a capacity of 105, there is some room for growth, and the school serves a community where 27.6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in April 2024 rated it as Requires Improvement overall, a downgrade from its previous Good rating in 2013. The inspection found that the quality of education, early years provision, and leadership and management all require improvement, while personal development and behaviour and attitudes were both rated Good. At Key Stage 2, results from 2023/24 show that just 33% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, well below the local authority average of 52%. In maths, 47% reached the expected standard and 27% achieved a higher score, while in reading the figures were 53% and 20% respectively. Writing was stronger, with 60% reaching the expected standard, but no pupils achieved the higher standard. The school ranks 48th out of 58 primary schools in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, placing it in the bottom half of the local authority.

The school offers a range of facilities including a gymnasium, library, ICT suite, dining hall, art studios and a chapel, plus sports such as rounders, athletics, cross country, swimming, netball and football. Clubs include coding, science club and gardening. For children with additional needs, the school has identified provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, autistic spectrum disorder, and other difficulties or disabilities. This is a small, community-focused school that is popular locally, but parents should weigh the oversubscription pressure against the Requires Improvement rating and below-average KS2 outcomes. It may suit families who prioritise a close-knit setting and are comfortable working with the school through its improvement journey.

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