St Matthew Academy

Lewisham · SE3 0XX

General information All-through School · 4-16 years Who goes here 1063 pupils, 34% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 15.5% on SEN support Behaviour 5.7% absence rate Staff 18.4% turnover Financials £453 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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St Matthew Academy

General Information

Address: St Joseph's Vale, London, SE3 0XX – View on map
Phone: 02088536250
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr James Potter
Age range: 4-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 134 families put it first for 155 places – 9 for every 10 places. 62% of them were offered a place. 24 of the 155 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 5 · 2024 5 · 2025 4 · 2026 9
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 14 families put it first for 18 places – 8 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 2 of the 18 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 8 · 2025 8 · 2026 8
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1063 pupils out of 1650 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 361
% eligible for free school meals: 34.0%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (similar to the Lewisham average)
English as an additional language: 26% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 18.4% a year (Lewisham 21.1%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 58% moved to another school, 42% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Lewisham: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 16 (1.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 34 (2.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 7 (0.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Lewisham, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 5.7%
Persistently absent pupils: 16.5%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 15.5%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.0%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 60 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 41 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 36 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 17 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 6 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 6 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

No overall grade given 2025 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

SecondaryGCSE results, Year 11

Attainment 8 score: 47.2
Compared with the area: in line with the Lewisham average (48.0)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (+4.6 points against an expected 42.6)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 59% (Lewisham 65%, England 65%) Falling
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolLewisham averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was in line with the Lewisham average (48.0).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

9th of 14 all-through schools in Lewisham for Attainment 8

#7Trinity Church of England School, Lewisham48.3
#8Deptford Green School47.7
#9St Matthew Academy47.2
#10Sedgehill Academy43.9
#11Haberdashers' Knights Academy42.9

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Prendergast School64.0
#2Forest Hill School52.3
#3Sydenham School50.8
#4Bonus Pastor Catholic College50.7
#5Haberdashers' Hatcham College50.5
#6Prendergast Ladywell School49.2
#7Trinity Church of England School, Lewisham48.3
#8Deptford Green School47.7
#9St Matthew Academy47.2
#10Sedgehill Academy43.9
#11Haberdashers' Knights Academy42.9
#12Prendergast Vale School42.2
#13Addey and Stanhope School41.1
#14Conisborough College37.6

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 94.0%
Went into further education: 92.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Literature
English Language
Religious Studies
Science Double Award
Spanish
Geography
History
Sports Studies
Business Studies
Computer Science
Physics (General)
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Food Technology
Photography
Media Studies
Art & Design
D & T
French Language
Astronomy
Portuguese
Russian
Polish
Italian

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

PrimaryYear 6 SATs results

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 83% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 13% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 15 percentage points above the Lewisham average (68%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 75% against an expected 58%)
3-year average (expected standard): 75%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 83% · Writing 88% · Maths 88% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 75%
Average test scores: reading 104, maths 107
Based on: 24 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolLewisham averageEngland↗ Improving Up 16 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 15 percentage points above the Lewisham average (68%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 6th of 67 junior and primary schools in the area

=6Holy Cross Catholic Primary School83%
=6St James's Hatcham Church of England Primary School83%
=6St Matthew Academy83%
=6Stillness Junior School83%
#10Rathfern Primary School82%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Haberdashers' Hatcham Free School90%
#2Turnham Academy88%
#3Trinity Church of England School, Lewisham86%
=4Eliot Bank Primary School85%
=4Gordonbrock Primary School85%
=6Holy Cross Catholic Primary School83%
=6St James's Hatcham Church of England Primary School83%
=6St Matthew Academy83%
=6Stillness Junior School83%
#10Rathfern Primary School82%
=11Downderry Primary School80%
=11Fairlawn Primary School80%
=11St Bartholomews's Church of England Primary School80%
#14Brindishe Lee School79%
#15St Margaret's Lee CofE Primary School78%
#16Tidemill Academy76%
=17Ashmead Primary School75%
=17Brindishe Manor School75%
=17Haberdashers' Hatcham Primary75%
=17St George's CofE Primary School75%
=21Childeric Primary School74%
=21St Augustine's Catholic Primary School and Nursery74%
=23Haberdashers' Knights Primary73%
=23Horniman Primary School73%
=23St Joseph's Catholic Primary School73%
=26Adamsrill Primary School72%
=26Edmund Waller Primary School72%
=26Kelvin Grove Primary School72%
=26St William of York Catholic Primary School72%
=30Dalmain Primary School71%
=30John Ball Primary School71%
=30Myatt Garden Primary School71%
=30Oak Gardens Primary School71%
#34Marvels Lane Primary School70%
=35Beecroft Garden Primary69%
=35Brindishe Green School69%
=35Deptford Park Primary School69%
=38Forster Park Primary School68%
=38Kender Primary School68%
=38St John Baptist Southend Church of England Primary School68%
=41All Saints' Church of England Primary School Blackheath67%
=41Good Shepherd RC School67%
=41Perrymount Primary School67%
=41Sandhurst Primary School67%
=45Kilmorie Primary School66%
=45Torridon Primary School66%
#47Haseltine Primary School65%
=48Cooper's Lane Primary School62%
=48St Michael's Church of England Primary School62%
#50John Stainer Community Primary School61%
#51St Mary's Lewisham Church of England Primary School60%
=52Prendergast Ladywell School59%
=52St Winifred's RC Primary School59%
#54Our Lady and St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School58%
=55Grinling Gibbons Primary School57%
=55Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School57%
=55St Saviour's Catholic Primary School57%
#58Holbeach Primary School56%
#59Prendergast Vale School55%
#60Baring Primary School54%
#61Launcelot Primary School and Nursery53%
#62Rangefield Primary School51%
#63St Stephen's CofE Primary School50%
#64Rushey Green Primary School49%
#65Elfrida Primary School47%
#66Athelney Primary School43%
#67Twin Oaks Primary School42%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £453 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

14th of 14 all-through schools in Lewisham for spending per pupil

#12Sydenham School£8,313
#13Prendergast School£8,067
#14St Matthew Academy£453

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Conisborough College£12,269
#2Addey and Stanhope School£11,805
#3Deptford Green School£11,414
#4Sedgehill Academy£10,691
#5Bonus Pastor Catholic College£10,648
#6Forest Hill School£9,934
#7Prendergast Ladywell School£9,907
#8Prendergast Vale School£9,640
#9Trinity Church of England School, Lewisham£9,596
#10Haberdashers' Hatcham College£8,922
#11Haberdashers' Knights Academy£8,819
#12Sydenham School£8,313
#13Prendergast School£8,067
#14St Matthew Academy£453

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Lewisham: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Year 6 SATs ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered