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 Boston: 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).
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 | Wyberton Primary Academy | Above | 70% | 59% | +11.2 | 38% | 28% | 17% | 88 | 25% |
| 2 | Kirton Primary School | Above | 69% | 59% | +9.6 | 42% | 25% | 28% | 232 | 13%below average |
| 3 | Boston West Academy | Above | 68% | 63% | +5.3 | 33% | 17% | 17% | 177 | 8%low |
| 4 | The Butterwick Pinchbeck's Endowed CofE Primary School | As expected | 65% | 61% | +3.9 | 29% | 23% | 2% | 130 | 8%low |
| 5 | St Nicholas CE Primary Academy | As expected | 52% | 49% | +2.8 | 70% | 48% | 56% | 88 | 19% |
| 6 | Staniland Academy | As expected | 65% | 62% | +2.6 | 44% | 19% | 55% | 255 | 4%low |
| 7 | Old Leake Primary Academy | As expected | 55% | 54% | +1.0 | 52% | 35% | 19% | 92 | 23% |
| 8 | Tower Road Academy | As expected | 64% | 64% | +0.4 | 29% | 22% | 33% | 263 | 13%below average |
| 9 | St Thomas CofE Primary Academy | As expected | 60% | 64% | −4.1 | 31% | 19% | 36% | 172 | 16%above average |
| 10 | Hawthorn Tree School | Below | 58% | 64% | −5.5 | 31% | 18% | 25% | 151 | 7%low |
| 11 | Carlton Road Academy | Below | 56% | 64% | −8.1 | 43% | 15% | 62% | 162 | 9%low |
| 12 | Boston Pioneers Free School Academy | Below | 52% | 63% | −11.2 | 33% | 30% | 67% | 161 | 17%above average |
| 13 | Saint Mary's RC Primary Academy Boston | Well below | 58% | 70% | −11.8 | 17% | 24% | 86% | 88 | 22% |
| 14 | Park Academy | Well below | 47% | 62% | −14.8 | 34% | 32% | 58% | 158 | 20%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
- Fishtoft Academy – Too few pupils to compare fairly (SATs: 67%)
- Wrangle Primary Academy – Too few pupils to compare fairly (SATs: 45%)
How this works
We call these Companion Results. Read the plain-English explainer →
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 turnover | Typical turnover | Results vs expected | Did 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.