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 Richmond upon Thames: 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 Barnes Primary School Well above 94% 70% +23.8 6% 14% 22% 169 14%below average
2 Meadlands Primary School Well above 86% 66% +20.3 29% 16% 42% 92 11%below average
3 St Richard Reynolds Catholic Primary School Well above 91% 72% +19.0 3% 13% 33% 90 22%
4 Deer Park School Well above 93% 74% +18.8 3% 13% 63% 90 16%above average
5 St James's Catholic Primary School Well above 86% 69% +17.0 2% 25% 29% 272 17%above average
6 St Mary's and St Peter's Church of England Primary School Well above 85% 68% +16.9 8% 19% 16% 261 8%low
7 St Stephen's C E Primary School Well above 81% 64% +16.9 16% 26% 10% 175 19%above average
8 Thomson House School Well above 85% 69% +16.5 10% 16% 18% 140 22%high
9 The King's Church of England Primary School Well above 84% 69% +15.4 9% 23% 40% 152 14%above average
10 Kew Riverside Primary School Well above 71% 56% +15.3 53% 33% 40% 42 18%
11 Marshgate Primary School Compared Well above 87% 73% +14.1 10% 8% 51% 175 19%above average
12 Lowther Primary School Well above 80% 66% +13.8 29% 11% 32% 89 24%high
13 Chase Bridge Primary School Well above 82% 69% +12.7 18% 11% 38% 261 7%low
14 East Sheen Primary School Well above 81% 68% +12.7 20% 17% 51% 235 12%below average
15 Collis Primary School Well above 83% 70% +12.6 7% 12% 20% 300 21%high
16 St Mary's Church of England Primary School Well above 82% 70% +12.2 8% 17% 33% 269 15%above average
17 The Russell Primary School Well above 76% 64% +11.9 23% 30% 47% 90 30%high
18 Sheen Mount Primary School Well above 82% 70% +11.8 11% 13% 35% 216 9%low
19 Hampton Junior School Well above 77% 65% +11.6 21% 21% 28% 340 23%high
20 St Edmund's Catholic Primary School Above 78% 69% +9.2 14% 16% 35% 177 18%above average
21 Archdeacon Cambridge's Church of England Primary School Above 81% 73% +8.4 2% 9% 24% 178 12%below average
22 Hampton Hill Junior School Above 72% 64% +8.3 25% 25% 31% 266 20%high
23 Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School Above 74% 67% +7.2 22% 18% 40% 163 22%high
24 The Vineyard School Above 80% 73% +7.2 9% 7% 43% 261 17%above average
25 Bishop Perrin Church of England Primary School Above 74% 68% +6.5 13% 20% 27% 85 11%below average
26 St Mary Magdalen's Catholic Primary School Above 76% 70% +6.0 8% 16% 32% 83 29%
27 Trafalgar Junior School Above 72% 66% +5.8 21% 12% 9% 220 12%below average
28 Heathfield Junior School As expected 67% 63% +4.0 41% 17% 47% 343 19%above average
29 Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School As expected 67% 64% +3.5 19% 35% 42% 79 12%below average
30 St Richard's Church of England Primary School As expected 63% 60% +3.2 47% 20% 33% 92 8%
31 Orleans Primary School As expected 74% 72% +2.4 5% 17% 48% 175 23%high
32 Stanley Primary School As expected 66% 64% +1.7 24% 23% 29% 229 4%low
33 St Mary's Hampton Church of England Primary As expected 68% 67% +1.2 16% 12% 0% 74 15%
34 Twickenham Primary Academy As expected 64% 65% −1.0 22% 23% 32% 178 27%high
35 St John the Baptist Church of England Junior School Below 67% 72% −4.7 10% 12% 49% 165 11%below average
36 Darell Primary and Nursery School Below 49% 56% −6.9 43% 39% 30% 83 9%low
37 Buckingham Primary School Below 56% 63% −7.2 36% 20% 43% 225 18%above average
38 Nelson Primary School Well below 52% 65% −13.3 24% 26% 53% 130 16%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.

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.