School Context Comparator

Exam results say a lot about a school's pupils, not just its teaching. A school where many children are disadvantaged or have special educational needs will usually have lower results, even if it's doing a great job. This compares each school with what you'd expect from the pupils it teaches.

Primary and junior schools in Bath and North East Somerset: SATs results in context

% meeting the expected standard, average of the three years to 2024/25. Each numbered dot is a school (see the table below). Above the line means better results than you'd expect from its pupils; the shaded strip is "about what you'd expect".

  • Better than expected
  • About as expected
  • Below expected

The faint grey dots behind are every other school in England, for comparison.

Green ring: low teacher turnover – among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay (three-year average).

101020203030404050506060707080809090100100Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected % (from the school's pupils)Actual % meeting the expected standard12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849
101020203030404050506060707080809090100100Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected %Actual % meeting the expected standard12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849

Loading stats for 13,485 schools across England…

Did you know? In a class of 30, one child moves a school's SATs percentage by more than 3 points - which is why we use a three-year average. How this works

How each school compares

# School Compared with what you'd expect Actual Expected Gap Disadvantaged SEN EAL Pupils(3 years) Teacher turnover(a year)
1 Freshford Church School Well above 94% 70% +24.1 8% 8% 4% 72 15%
2 St Julian's Church School Well above 85% 61% +23.9 13% 38% 0% 40 16%
3 Pensford Primary School Well above 82% 63% +18.9 7% 36% 0% 38 7%
4 Saltford CofE Primary School Well above 82% 68% +14.4 8% 17% 2% 190 12%below average
5 Longvernal Primary School Well above 72% 58% +13.7 26% 37% 0% 68 17%
6 Shoscombe Church School Above 81% 69% +12.1 0% 22% 11% 36 16%
7 Westfield Primary School Above 74% 63% +11.0 23% 21% 2% 171 8%low
8 Midsomer Norton Primary School Above 70% 60% +10.5 31% 28% 3% 107 13%below average
9 St Philip's CofE Primary School Above 74% 64% +10.3 25% 23% 25% 120 7%low
10 Trinity Church School Above 70% 60% +10.0 35% 23% 6% 80 16%above average
11 St Stephens Church School Above 75% 66% +8.7 10% 22% 8% 170 9%low
12 St Mary's CofE Primary School Above 72% 64% +8.2 13% 27% 0% 60 13%
13 High Littleton CofE VC Primary School Above 77% 69% +7.8 11% 7% 0% 75 3%
14 St John's Church of England Primary School Above 74% 66% +7.7 13% 17% 0% 87 19%above average
15 Oldfield Park Junior School Above 68% 61% +7.0 29% 24% 3% 186 10%below average
16 Widcombe CofE Junior School Above 75% 68% +6.9 12% 15% 15% 181 11%
17 Bathford Church School Above 74% 69% +5.1 0% 22% 11% 72 16%
18 Farrington Gurney Church of England Primary School As expected 70% 65% +4.8 7% 27% 0% 43 31%
19 St John's CofE Primary School As expected 67% 63% +4.4 18% 27% 0% 168 19%above average
20 Chew Stoke Church School As expected 71% 67% +4.0 14% 14% 4% 75 18%
21 Clutton Primary School As expected 76% 72% +3.7 0% 5% 0% 55 11%
22 Bishop Sutton Primary School As expected 70% 67% +2.6 4% 21% 0% 81 18%
23 Whitchurch Primary School As expected 64% 62% +2.3 35% 17% 9% 70 18%
24 Batheaston Church School As expected 60% 58% +1.7 29% 36% 7% 75 20%
25 Farmborough Church Primary School As expected 61% 61% −0.4 21% 29% 0% 67 5%
26 Newbridge Primary School As expected 64% 65% −0.6 18% 22% 10% 174 10%below average
27 St Keyna Primary School As expected 53% 54% −0.9 38% 47% 13% 116 13%below average
28 Bathwick St Mary Church School As expected 65% 66% −1.1 12% 29% 35% 98 8%
29 Combe Down CofE Primary School As expected 61% 63% −1.5 23% 26% 11% 174 7%low
30 Welton Primary School As expected 60% 62% −1.6 28% 24% 8% 68 13%
31 Paulton Junior School As expected 61% 64% −2.6 17% 25% 4% 214 10%below average
32 St Nicholas Church School As expected 46% 49% −2.9 49% 54% 3% 97 21%high
33 East Harptree Church of England Primary School Below 62% 68% −6.4 7% 14% 0% 37 15%
34 Peasedown St John Primary School Below 54% 61% −7.1 22% 31% 6% 185 23%high
35 St Saviours Junior Church School Below 54% 63% −8.6 23% 25% 10% 149 33%
36 Castle Primary School Below 52% 61% −9.1 42% 13% 11% 117 13%below average
37 Somerdale Educate Together Primary Academy Below 55% 64% −9.1 17% 23% 3% 86 19%above average
38 Ubley Church of England Primary School Below 56% 67% −11.0 18% 9% 0% 34 15%
39 St Andrew's Church School Below 51% 62% −11.4 37% 26% 56% 78 22%
40 Moorlands Junior School Well below 52% 65% −12.9 15% 24% 11% 159 17%
41 Chew Magna Primary School Well below 48% 62% −14.3 8% 38% 0% 42 22%
42 Weston All Saints CofE Primary School Well below 48% 63% −14.6 23% 24% 6% 251 18%above average
43 Bathampton Primary School Well below 51% 67% −15.7 14% 14% 0% 82 26%
44 St Martin's Garden Primary School Well below 34% 52% −18.3 53% 41% 19% 98 35%high
45 St Mary's Church of England Primary School Well below 38% 57% −18.9 32% 37% 0% 60 16%
46 Marksbury CofE Primary School Well below 47% 67% −19.7 11% 17% 0% 36 12%
47 Cameley CEVC Primary School Well below 36% 61% −25.4 25% 25% 0% 55 6%
48 St Michaels Junior Church School Well below 18% 47% −28.8 70% 43% 7% 110 12%
49 Roundhill Primary School Well below 27% 59% −32.2 41% 28% 31% 113 44%high

Results are the average of the last three Year 6 groups, which is steadier than a single year. Pupil percentages are for the latest Year 6. Disadvantaged: eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, or looked after by the council. SEN: special educational needs (SEN support or an EHC plan). EAL: English as an additional language.

Not compared

How this works

We looked at every comparable state primary and junior school in England (14,315 schools) to see how SATs results usually change with the make-up of a year group. On average:

  • For every 10 more disadvantaged pupils in every 100, the share meeting the expected standard is about 2.4 percentage points lower.
  • For every 10 more pupils with SEN in every 100, it's about 2.4 percentage points lower.
  • For every 10 more pupils with English as an additional language in every 100, it's about 0.7 percentage points higher. Pupils learning English often catch up quickly.

From those, each school gets an expected result for its own pupils, which we compare with its actual result. Primary year groups are small – in a class of 30, one child moves the percentage by more than 3 points – so we use the three-year average and allow for each school's own pupil numbers: a small school needs a bigger gap before we call it above or below what you'd expect.

What we found: schools where teachers stay

We put every primary and junior school's result-against-expected next to its teacher turnover – the share of its teachers who moved to another school or left state schools each year, averaged over three years (DfE school workforce census). Across 8,274 schools in England, split into four equal groups by turnover:

Teacher turnoverTypical turnoverResults vs expectedDid better than expected
Lowest turnover 7% a year +1.8 pts 40%
Lower-middle 12% a year +1.2 pts 37%
Upper-middle 17% a year +0.7 pts 36%
Highest turnover 26% a year −1.2 pts 32%

The pattern is the same as for secondary schools but weaker, and most of the difference is in the quarter of schools where teachers leave most often (−1.2 percentage points, against +1.8 for the lowest-turnover quarter). Primary staffs are small and SATs results move around from year to year, which blurs the picture.

A link isn't proof that one causes the other: losing teachers may hold results back, and a school that's struggling for other reasons (leadership, for example) may also lose more teachers. Nationally, turnover is fairly steady from year to year and teachers who move are replaced – but between schools it varies a lot, from under one teacher in ten a year to more than one in five. The green rings on the chart mark the lowest-turnover quarter.

What it can't tell you

  • These three things explain only about 18% of the differences between schools. Much of what makes a school stronger or weaker, and much about its pupils, isn't captured by any published figure.
  • Even averaged over three years, small schools' results move around a lot, so treat close calls as roughly equal.
  • It isn't an excuse for lower results. It shows how a school does compared with schools teaching similar pupils, so you can compare more fairly.
  • We deliberately don't adjust for attendance or exclusions: those are partly down to the school itself.

Source: Department for Education, Key Stage 2 performance data (2024/25). Calculated by The School Companion.