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 Great Yarmouth: 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).

303040405050606070708080Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected % (from the school's pupils)Actual % meeting the expected standard12345678910111213141516171819202122232425
303040405050606070708080Better than expectedBelow expectedExpected %Actual % meeting the expected standard12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

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 Stradbroke Primary Academy Well above 77% 57% +19.8 61% 10% 10% 91 18%above average
2 Ormiston Herman Academy Well above 73% 56% +16.8 44% 31% 10% 150 11%below average
3 Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy Above 68% 61% +7.1 37% 20% 15% 230 13%below average
4 Caister Junior School Above 65% 59% +6.1 29% 32% 2% 260 13%below average
5 Rollesby Primary School As expected 61% 57% +4.3 40% 30% 0% 56 16%
6 St Nicholas Priory CofE VA Primary School and Nursery As expected 59% 55% +4.2 74% 20% 52% 169 10%below average
7 Great Yarmouth Primary Academy and Nursery As expected 55% 55% +0.3 72% 19% 41% 132 20%high
8 North Denes Primary School and Nursery As expected 54% 55% −1.3 50% 31% 17% 167 9%low
9 Woodlands Primary Academy As expected 62% 64% −1.6 30% 12% 2% 182 25%high
10 Hopton Church of England Primary Academy As expected 59% 62% −2.8 32% 18% 5% 75 9%
11 Filby Primary School As expected 63% 67% −4.2 13% 13% 0% 41 11%
12 Martham Academy and Nursery As expected 57% 62% −4.5 26% 26% 7% 151 13%below average
13 Wroughton Junior Academy Below 51% 57% −6.2 53% 18% 10% 239 31%high
14 Hemsby Primary School Below 47% 54% −7.0 45% 36% 0% 75 22%
15 St Mary and St Peter Catholic Primary School Below 50% 58% −7.6 43% 32% 29% 86 11%below average
16 Cobholm Primary Academy Below 47% 56% −8.7 73% 18% 55% 60 10%
17 Northgate Primary School Below 47% 56% −9.3 61% 17% 20% 177 12%below average
18 Ormesby Village Junior School Compared Below 55% 65% −9.5 18% 21% 6% 103 29%
19 Peterhouse CofE Primary Academy Below 44% 54% −9.6 60% 24% 3% 173 5%low
20 Edward Worlledge Ormiston Academy Well below 42% 56% −14.4 53% 25% 23% 158 4%low
21 Moorlands CofE Primary Academy Well below 48% 62% −14.4 24% 22% 0% 132 5%low
22 Homefield VC CofE Primary School Well below 50% 65% −14.5 10% 29% 6% 92 10%low
23 Hillside Primary School Well below 48% 67% −18.5 13% 17% 3% 93 8%low
24 St. George's Primary School & St. George's Nursery School, Great Yarmouth Well below 35% 58% −22.8 73% 13% 67% 83 11%below average
25 Southtown Primary School Well below 33% 66% −32.7 21% 21% 32% 78 26%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.

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.