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 Camden: 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).

404050506060707080809090100100Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected % (from the school's pupils)Actual % meeting the expected standard1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
404050506060707080809090100100Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected %Actual % meeting the expected standard1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738

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 St Luke's Church of England School Well above 95% 61% +34.5 30% 30% 20% 41 9%
2 Christopher Hatton Primary School Well above 87% 53% +33.6 71% 33% 67% 76 10%low
3 Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, NW3 Well above 85% 52% +33.2 81% 27% 58% 75 13%below average
4 Abacus Belsize Primary School Well above 89% 60% +29.5 42% 21% 16% 38 29%
5 Kingsgate Primary School Well above 87% 58% +29.4 68% 17% 61% 230 18%above average
6 Hampstead Parochial Church of England Primary School Well above 91% 68% +22.9 19% 15% 38% 81 16%
7 St Mary's Kilburn Church of England Primary School Well above 78% 55% +22.8 64% 36% 79% 80 15%above average
8 Rhyl Community Primary School Well above 72% 50% +21.7 81% 39% 77% 175 26%high
9 St Eugene de Mazenod Roman Catholic Primary School Well above 81% 60% +21.3 48% 22% 41% 77 15%
10 Torriano Primary School Well above 80% 60% +20.1 51% 21% 51% 167 27%high
11 Eleanor Palmer Primary School Well above 86% 66% +19.9 24% 21% 48% 88 10%below average
12 Holy Trinity and Saint Silas CofE Primary School, NW1 Well above 77% 58% +18.8 38% 34% 28% 88 9%low
13 Christ Church Primary School, Hampstead Well above 90% 71% +18.6 16% 12% 64% 77 10%below average
14 Richard Cobden Primary School Well above 76% 58% +18.4 70% 23% 88% 150 27%high
15 Edith Neville Primary School Well above 75% 57% +17.9 58% 38% 92% 72 29%high
16 Our Lady Roman Catholic Primary School Well above 67% 49% +17.7 81% 31% 36% 136 32%high
17 St Alban's Church of England Primary School Well above 74% 57% +17.5 60% 27% 53% 53 33%high
18 St Mary and St Pancras Church of England Primary School Well above 74% 57% +17.4 58% 25% 42% 81 16%above average
19 St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Well above 69% 52% +17.2 69% 31% 31% 58 49%
20 St George the Martyr Church of England Primary School Well above 75% 58% +17.1 52% 30% 56% 84 33%high
21 St Paul's Church of England Primary School Well above 80% 64% +16.0 38% 10% 28% 82 20%high
22 Argyle Primary School Well above 77% 62% +15.4 59% 19% 93% 104 9%low
23 Emmanuel Church of England Primary School Well above 82% 67% +14.7 17% 20% 37% 87 27%high
24 Gospel Oak Primary School Compared Well above 71% 58% +13.3 54% 28% 54% 173 14%below average
25 West Hampstead Primary School Above 67% 56% +10.6 58% 27% 46% 146 19%above average
26 St Josephs Catholic Primary School Above 67% 57% +9.7 45% 36% 45% 70 27%
27 Kentish Town Church of England Primary School Above 66% 57% +9.5 53% 27% 30% 89 14%below average
28 New End Primary School Above 77% 68% +9.3 22% 20% 59% 130 10%below average
29 Fleet Primary School Above 66% 58% +8.1 48% 30% 44% 86 7%low
30 Brookfield Primary School Above 64% 57% +7.4 47% 29% 19% 161 26%high
31 Rosary Catholic Primary School Above 75% 69% +6.2 20% 20% 68% 125 10%below average
32 Brecknock Primary School Above 57% 51% +5.9 79% 33% 61% 106 25%high
33 Christ Church School Above 65% 60% +5.1 45% 25% 45% 78 20%
34 Primrose Hill School As expected 65% 61% +3.8 44% 27% 65% 161 26%high
35 Kings Cross Academy As expected 54% 55% −1.0 57% 26% 20% 152 25%high
36 Fitzjohn's Primary School As expected 70% 73% −2.5 19% 11% 85% 81 3%low
37 Netley Primary School Below 53% 58% −5.2 56% 30% 74% 119 15%above average
38 Hawley Primary School Below 54% 59% −5.3 52% 28% 69% 84 25%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.

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.