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 West Oxfordshire: 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.

Outlined in black: the school you compared (marked "Compared" in the table).

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

20203030404050506060707080809090Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected % (from the school's pupils)Actual % meeting the expected standard1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344
20203030404050506060707080809090Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected %Actual % meeting the expected standard1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344

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 Chadlington Church of England Primary School Well above 86% 58% +28.5 38% 31% 8% 35 14%
2 Stanton Harcourt CofE Primary School Well above 78% 58% +19.7 27% 36% 0% 46 24%
3 St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Cassington Well above 82% 64% +18.0 25% 17% 8% 45 20%
4 Eynsham Community Primary School Well above 83% 67% +15.6 11% 18% 13% 160 11%below average
5 Freeland Church of England Primary School Well above 82% 68% +14.5 0% 28% 11% 68 32%
6 Enstone Primary School Above 62% 49% +12.6 44% 56% 0% 39 14%
7 Kingham Primary School Well above 84% 72% +12.0 0% 6% 0% 91 11%below average
8 Combe CofE Primary School Above 83% 72% +10.6 0% 11% 22% 41 0%
9 Woodstock Church of England Primary School Above 77% 67% +10.4 11% 20% 9% 134 12%below average
10 Leafield Church of England Primary School Above 82% 72% +10.2 7% 0% 0% 45 27%
11 North Leigh Church of England School Above 77% 69% +8.4 11% 11% 5% 77 20%
12 Holy Trinity Catholic School, Chipping Norton Above 72% 65% +7.5 25% 18% 18% 83 14%below average
13 Aston and Cote Church of England Primary School Above 70% 63% +7.0 20% 25% 5% 69 12%
14 Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School, Witney Above 69% 63% +5.7 29% 25% 39% 89 24%
15 Hailey Church of England Primary School As expected 73% 69% +4.0 14% 7% 7% 45 0%
16 St John the Evangelist CofE VA Primary School As expected 67% 65% +1.9 16% 21% 7% 177 22%high
17 Great Tew County Primary School As expected 68% 67% +1.1 7% 20% 0% 40 4%
18 St Kenelm's Church of England (VC) School As expected 61% 61% −0.3 30% 22% 4% 59 10%
19 Hanborough Manor CofE School As expected 60% 61% −0.9 23% 29% 0% 87 19%
20 The Blake Church of England Primary School As expected 59% 60% −1.3 23% 33% 5% 180 9%low
21 Witney Community Primary School As expected 60% 62% −2.4 23% 23% 0% 91 9%
22 Wychwood Church of England Primary School As expected 63% 66% −3.1 4% 27% 2% 136 18%above average
23 Great Rollright Church of England (Aided) Primary School As expected 59% 64% −4.9 17% 25% 8% 41 20%
24 Standlake Church of England Primary School Below 55% 60% −5.2 29% 29% 10% 56 26%
25 Middle Barton Primary School Below 65% 71% −5.8 0% 11% 0% 52 10%
26 Madley Brook Community Primary School Below 62% 69% −6.5 9% 16% 14% 135 14%below average
27 Clanfield CofE Primary School Below 54% 61% −7.1 13% 38% 0% 46 22%
28 The Batt Church of England Primary School Below 63% 70% −7.1 14% 4% 12% 175 21%high
29 Ducklington Primary School Below 55% 63% −8.1 11% 33% 4% 89 15%
30 St Peter's Church of England School, Alvescot Below 56% 66% −9.8 13% 19% 0% 45 13%
31 Bladon Church of England Primary School Below 51% 62% −11.4 15% 31% 0% 45 16%
32 St Mary's Church of England (Aided) Primary School, Chipping Norton Below 43% 54% −11.4 43% 40% 13% 87 20%
33 St Christopher's Church of England School Below 47% 59% −12.3 24% 36% 4% 64 19%
34 Gateway Primary School Well below 57% 70% −12.6 6% 10% 0% 114 10%below average
35 Charlbury Primary School Well below 54% 68% −14.3 15% 8% 4% 81 17%
36 Burford Primary School Compared Well below 46% 63% −16.9 25% 19% 0% 63 7%
37 Tackley Church of England Primary School Well below 52% 70% −17.8 6% 11% 6% 48 32%
38 Edith Moorhouse Primary School Well below 44% 64% −20.4 22% 18% 8% 131 20%high
39 Brize Norton Primary School Well below 45% 66% −20.8 19% 13% 0% 56 32%
40 Tower Hill Community Primary School Well below 33% 55% −21.8 48% 35% 17% 83 29%
41 Stonesfield Primary School Well below 41% 63% −22.3 13% 31% 6% 44 41%
42 St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Carterton Well below 26% 55% −29.1 33% 47% 13% 42 47%
43 Queen Emma's Primary School Well below 34% 63% −29.4 32% 16% 20% 111 28%high
44 Bampton CofE Primary School Well below 34% 67% −33.1 5% 23% 5% 80 19%

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.

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.