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 King's Lynn and West Norfolk: 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 standard123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748
20203030404050506060707080809090Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected %Actual % meeting the expected standard123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748

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 Snettisham Primary School Above 69% 56% +12.8 45% 27% 0% 36 43%
2 Ingoldisthorpe Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Well above 82% 69% +12.6 6% 11% 0% 50 15%
3 The Norman Church of England Primary School, Northwold Above 71% 60% +11.5 33% 25% 0% 41 31%
4 Nelson Academy Above 63% 54% +8.7 51% 33% 14% 182 13%below average
5 Reffley Academy Above 73% 65% +8.1 23% 15% 8% 161 13%below average
6 Heacham Junior School Above 69% 61% +8.0 29% 25% 7% 88 33%
7 Sandringham and West Newton Church of England Primary Academy Above 69% 62% +7.5 30% 20% 0% 36 20%
8 North Wootton Academy Above 70% 64% +6.4 16% 27% 7% 141 10%low
9 Gaywood Primary School Above 68% 63% +5.4 24% 26% 16% 177 25%high
10 Denver Voluntary Controlled Primary School Above 69% 64% +5.3 29% 12% 0% 48 6%
11 Burnham Market Primary and Nursery School As expected 62% 59% +2.8 33% 28% 6% 50 15%
12 Emneth Academy As expected 59% 57% +2.5 44% 28% 4% 83 9%
13 Eastgate Academy Compared As expected 66% 64% +1.6 40% 13% 49% 137 10%low
14 St Martin At Shouldham Church of England Primary Academy As expected 70% 68% +1.6 4% 17% 0% 73 21%
15 Downham Market, Hillcrest Primary School As expected 64% 64% −0.4 32% 10% 14% 233 16%above average
16 Greenpark Academy As expected 55% 57% −1.8 65% 17% 41% 109 6%low
17 Clenchwarton Primary School As expected 63% 66% −2.7 13% 20% 3% 87 4%
18 Edmund de Moundeford VC Primary School, Feltwell As expected 60% 63% −2.7 14% 32% 5% 68 6%
19 Hunstanton Primary School As expected 54% 57% −3.3 50% 21% 11% 78 7%
20 St Martha's Catholic Primary School Below 65% 71% −5.9 18% 11% 60% 173 13%below average
21 All Saints Academy Below 63% 69% −6.0 21% 0% 7% 40 12%
22 West Lynn Primary School Below 59% 65% −6.0 14% 24% 10% 69 22%
23 Beaupre Community Primary School Below 48% 54% −6.1 46% 38% 12% 86 7%
24 Tilney All Saints CofE Primary School Below 53% 60% −7.3 33% 22% 0% 36 24%
25 West Winch Primary School Below 56% 64% −7.7 24% 21% 15% 100 8%
26 Marshland St James Primary and Nursery School Below 49% 57% −7.9 46% 23% 0% 39 33%
27 Whitefriars Church of England Primary Academy Below 56% 65% −8.5 37% 15% 48% 163 14%below average
28 St Michael's Church of England Academy Below 53% 62% −8.9 32% 29% 43% 87 15%
29 Ashwicken Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Below 57% 66% −9.0 10% 24% 10% 56 14%
30 Dersingham Primary School Below 52% 62% −9.7 28% 21% 0% 87 12%
31 Watlington Community Primary School Below 51% 61% −9.7 19% 35% 4% 77 12%
32 Anthony Curton CofE Primary School Below 58% 68% −10.1 19% 5% 5% 80 20%
33 Docking Church of England Primary Academy and Nursery Below 45% 55% −10.4 42% 33% 0% 44 19%
34 South Wootton Junior School Well below 55% 67% −11.9 8% 20% 3% 176 13%below average
35 West Walton Community Primary School Well below 45% 57% −12.3 34% 34% 3% 89 34%
36 Holly Meadows School Well below 48% 61% −12.8 18% 36% 5% 58 6%
37 Tilney St Lawrence Community Primary School Below 38% 51% −13.1 57% 36% 0% 42 23%
38 Upwell Academy Well below 37% 50% −13.4 48% 48% 0% 91 31%
39 Castle Acre Church of England Primary Academy Below 34% 48% −13.5 58% 50% 0% 32 33%
40 Southery Academy Well below 44% 58% −13.5 38% 31% 8% 39 9%
41 Terrington St Clement Community School Well below 45% 60% −15.3 36% 21% 7% 132 12%below average
42 Wimbotsham and Stow Academy Well below 50% 71% −21.2 0% 11% 6% 48 4%
43 Duchy of Lancaster Methwold CofE Primary School Well below 41% 63% −21.5 33% 13% 0% 41 24%
44 Cherry Tree Academy Trust Marham Junior Well below 42% 64% −21.6 11% 30% 0% 96 24%
45 Fairstead Community Primary and Nursery School Well below 40% 63% −22.8 39% 15% 31% 179 22%high
46 St Germans Academy Well below 40% 67% −27.0 9% 18% 0% 45 29%
47 Terrington St John Primary School Well below 22% 50% −27.9 42% 58% 8% 36 46%
48 Greyfriars Academy Well below 29% 63% −34.2 31% 25% 44% 111 18%above average

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.