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 Waltham Forest: 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).

3030404050506060707080809090100100Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected % (from the school's pupils)Actual % meeting the expected standard12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849
3030404050506060707080809090100100Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected %Actual % meeting the expected standard12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849

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 Riverley Primary School Well above 93% 63% +30.1 39% 21% 53% 175 20%high
2 Roger Ascham Primary School Well above 86% 58% +28.1 40% 40% 51% 172 7%low
3 St Mary's CofE Primary School Well above 93% 67% +25.8 19% 12% 16% 230 27%high
4 Yardley Primary School Well above 95% 69% +25.7 14% 8% 15% 180 7%low
5 St Saviour's Church of England Primary School Well above 89% 64% +24.8 30% 16% 24% 124 31%high
6 Willow Brook Primary School Academy Well above 90% 66% +24.4 36% 11% 47% 235 9%low
7 South Grove Primary School Well above 85% 64% +20.7 40% 20% 72% 168 11%below average
8 Ainslie Wood Primary School Well above 87% 68% +19.1 15% 23% 49% 157 19%above average
9 Selwyn Primary School Well above 83% 64% +19.0 32% 14% 21% 249 18%above average
10 Barclay Primary School Well above 83% 66% +17.1 37% 12% 57% 501 36%high
11 Davies Lane Primary School Well above 83% 68% +15.4 23% 12% 35% 356 16%above average
12 The Winns Primary School Well above 80% 65% +14.8 25% 22% 42% 214 16%above average
13 Thorpe Hall Primary School Well above 77% 63% +14.4 41% 20% 52% 147 28%high
14 Thomas Gamuel Primary School Well above 80% 66% +14.3 38% 12% 57% 123 20%high
15 Coppermill Primary School Well above 79% 65% +13.7 24% 33% 76% 91 26%high
16 Sybourn Primary School Well above 78% 65% +13.1 45% 14% 76% 189 37%high
17 Walthamstow Primary Academy Well above 80% 68% +12.2 37% 7% 67% 83 26%
18 Newport School Well above 75% 64% +11.3 30% 22% 38% 286 23%high
19 Hillyfield Primary Academy Above 76% 65% +10.7 30% 13% 29% 513 18%above average
20 Stoneydown Park School Above 75% 65% +10.4 18% 28% 30% 197 9%low
21 St Mary's Catholic Primary School Above 77% 67% +10.3 7% 25% 14% 86 15%
22 Oakhill Primary School Above 72% 62% +9.6 33% 19% 19% 71 13%
23 The Jenny Hammond Primary School Above 70% 62% +7.7 32% 26% 38% 162 18%above average
24 Lime Academy Larkswood Above 74% 66% +7.6 36% 6% 41% 235 31%high
25 Whitehall Primary School Above 71% 64% +6.7 31% 18% 36% 178 22%high
26 Mayville Academy Above 71% 65% +6.0 35% 19% 62% 143 27%high
27 Edinburgh Primary School Above 67% 62% +5.3 37% 27% 50% 139 33%high
28 Gwyn Jones Primary School Above 68% 63% +5.3 32% 22% 30% 168 24%high
29 Whittingham Primary Academy Above 69% 64% +4.8 32% 18% 38% 165 29%high
30 Handsworth Primary School As expected 67% 63% +4.5 21% 30% 18% 175 25%high
31 George Tomlinson Primary School As expected 63% 59% +4.3 25% 48% 40% 132 12%below average
32 Greenleaf Primary School As expected 72% 68% +3.8 25% 15% 60% 172 13%below average
33 Chase Lane Primary School As expected 72% 69% +3.4 23% 17% 65% 262 11%below average
34 Henry Maynard Primary School As expected 68% 65% +3.4 21% 23% 24% 317 12%below average
35 The Woodside Primary Academy As expected 65% 62% +2.6 47% 19% 65% 391 14%below average
36 Downsell Primary School As expected 64% 62% +2.2 41% 32% 81% 167 16%above average
37 Chapel End Junior Academy As expected 63% 61% +1.8 40% 33% 73% 200 9%low
38 Parkside Primary School As expected 66% 65% +1.3 29% 18% 34% 254 6%low
39 Buxton School As expected 62% 62% +0.4 44% 24% 61% 182 20%above average
40 St Joseph's Catholic Junior School As expected 63% 63% −0.1 32% 25% 46% 102 16%
41 Dawlish Primary School As expected 69% 70% −0.8 25% 8% 58% 72 36%
42 Salisbury Manor Primary School As expected 57% 59% −1.9 54% 17% 33% 124 25%high
43 Longshaw Primary Academy As expected 63% 65% −2.0 32% 16% 42% 93 40%high
44 Chingford CofE Primary School As expected 60% 64% −3.7 20% 24% 12% 178 11%below average
45 Barn Croft Primary School As expected 52% 56% −3.9 37% 47% 37% 78 29%high
46 St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Below 56% 67% −10.5 25% 18% 46% 156 20%high
47 Mission Grove Primary School Compared Well below 47% 60% −12.7 54% 15% 38% 310 14%below average
48 George Mitchell School Well below 52% 67% −14.7 39% 8% 61% 159 25%high
49 Emmanuel Community School Well below 37% 61% −23.5 46% 27% 62% 68 24%

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.