2023 PRIMARY SCHOOL TABLES: When choosing a child’s primary, sometimes the DfE numbers don’t add up, writes GENE BRODIE, education correspondent
PLUS: Full listing of Croydon school scores

Top of the table?: rating primary schools has caused much angst, for teachers, parents and children

When primary school league tables were first published back in the early 1990s, there was a lot of reaction.

Designed to help parents choose a primary school or be better informed about the one their child attended, the Leafy Lane Primaries from the more affluent areas looked towards the top of the tables while the Gasworks Road Schools from the more unfashionable areas of town cast their eyes to the lower end.

Before the invention of league tables, parents relied on local knowledge to know what was good or not so good about the local schools, albeit subjectively. They actually knew a great deal.

“That’s the best school for sport.”

“The Head there is very good, looks after everybody.”

“Ever since Miss L left, that school has gone downhill.”

Adding a test or two in the final year of primary school gave some objectivity to the powers that be, as well as to the parents. This brought a whole new approach to primary education. Elements of competition between schools surfaced. Pressure grew on those teachers who taught Year 6. Schools had targets for the number of pupils who should get to the required level.

Once these competitive elements surfaced, the dreaded word “failure” began to creep in. If the pupil didn’t achieve what was expected of them, how would that be dealt with? Was the teaching not up scratch? Were the pupils not prepared properly for the test? Were there problems within the school because they couldn’t attract the right staff?

In the 30 or so years of school league tables there have been lots of changes. Science used to be included as one of the subjects tested and therefore to be part of the league tables. But science was dropped in 2009.

The introduction of academisation has also upped the ante as far as many schools were concerned, with those towards the bottom of the league tables becoming “targets” for acquisitive academy chains. Some local authorities, such as Croydon, now have only a minor role in how local primary schools are run.

Nowadays, the league tables rely on just the data from achievements in maths and English. The basic tables released to the media just rank schools on the basis of how well they did in the latest SATs tests. The figure given beside the school informs the reader of the percentage of the pupils in that school who achieved the standard mark in English and maths. The Department for Education website has an interactive section for each borough where other information can be accessed.

On the DfE website, as well as discovering who is the “best” overall primary school, various filters allow you to see who did best at maths, or achieved the highest scores in reading or writing. Some parents will want to see if there was any difference in attainment between the girls and the boys.

In 2023’s league table for Croydon’s schools, Heathfield Academy on Aberdeen Road had the highest overall score in both English and maths, with 93% of pupils achieving the expected standard. In maths alone, the highest performing school was the Krishna Avanti Primary School on Southbridge Place, who also came top with their reading scores. The leading school for writing was St Mark’s CofE Primary Academy in Albert Road.

One-off poor results might be a dip, more than that might be a trend

Maths, as one teacher used to say, is the easiest of the subjects being tested. Their reasoning was that you just had to master the four basic operations and then learn when and where to use them.

High attainment in reading and writing needs much more nuance. Children learn to read before they can write, so it always seems strange when a school gets higher results for writing than it does for reading.

Parents, though, need to know much more than one set of figures about how well a school is doing. Questions to ask the school will include discovering whether the headteacher was pleased with the figures in the current league table or not. Not every year group is the same. Not everyone progresses at the same rate, therefore there will be some years where pupils do better than others. A one-off set of poor results might be a dip, but more than that might be a trend.

The DfE also puts a statement on the website stating that this 2023 cohort of pupils has been impacted by the covid restrictions and this might have held some children back.

A challenge for Croydon schools is the number of pupils who have English as an additional language. Many of these pupils will have started their school career being able to achieve very little. The progress that they make before they sit their SATs tests can be remarkable.

The primary school in Croydon which did the best in supporting EAL pupils to achieve the required standard in 2023, albeit with just seven identified pupils, was the Harris Primary Academy Benson, in West Way.

Schools which have just one form of entry are more susceptible to changes of results from year to year. One child being absent or underperforming in a test from a class of 30 makes a much bigger dent in an overall figure for the school than in a large school with up to 120 being assessed.

Of course, there are many other factors for parents to take into account when they choose a school.

Are there clubs and extracurricular activities that are available?

What is the ethos of the school like?

How large are the class sizes? This might become a much more pertinent question in the future as the numbers of children in London’s primary schools are expected to fall over the next few years – though in Croydon some primaries remain oversubscribed. But in general, and worth watching out for, a falling roll for schools will mean a smaller budget in the years to come.

It must be seen that issues with covid or whatever else are not excuses for underperformance but a realisation of the problems faced by schools which are not of their own making.

As with many things in life, a gut reaction about a place is important. How do you feel about the place? More importantly, how does your child feel?

Many parents feel that so much has changed since they were at school. League tables provide some answers to their questions, but there is so much more to a really good school.

Having read that, here are the Croydon primary school figures for 2023:

Heathfield Academy

Reading – well above average: 3.
Writing – well above average: 4.9
Maths – well above average: 4.2

Winterbourne Junior Girls’

Reading – well above average: 3.3
Writing – well above average: 4.7
Maths – well above average: 3.8

St John’s CofE Primary

Reading – well above average: 4.0
Writing – average: -0.2
Maths – above average: 2.8

Park Hill Junior

Reading – above average: 1.8
Writing – average: 1.2
Maths – above average: 2.1

Applegarth Academy

Reading – well above average: 4.7
Writing – well above average: 3.7
Maths – well above average: 4.4

Harris Primary Academy Haling Park

Reading – above average: 2.5
Writing – above average: 1.9
Maths – well above average: 5.3

Beaumont Primary

Reading – average: 0.3
Writing – well above average: 2.5
Maths – average: 1.5

Regina Coeli Catholic Primary

Reading – above average: 2.6
Writing – average: 0.1
Maths – well above average: 5.7

Winterbourne Boys’ Academy

Reading – well above average: 5.4
Writing – well above average: 3.5
Maths – well above average: 7.2

Krishna Avanti Primary

Reading – well above average: 6.5
Writing – well above average: 2.9
Maths – well above average: 7.7

Forestdale Primary

Reading – average: 0.8
Writing – average: 1.3
Maths – above average: 1.7

Gonville Academy

Reading – well above average: 5.0
Writing – average: 0.3
Maths – well above average: 5.3

Harris Primary Academy Purley Way

Reading – average: 0.4
Writing – average: 2.1
Maths – average: 1.3

Rockmount Primary

Reading – well above average: 4.1
Writing – average: 0.2
Maths – above average: 2.8

St Chad’s Catholic Primary

Reading – well above average: 3.8
Writing – above average: 2.5
Maths – well above average: 5.8

Castle Hill Academy

Reading – well above average: 5.8
Writing – well above average: 3.4
Maths – well above average: 4.1

Paxton Academy Sports And Science

Reading – average: 2.0
Writing – well above average: 3.3
Maths – well above average: 3.3

Woodcote Primary

Reading – above average: 1.7
Writing – above average: 1.2
Maths – average: 2.6

Margaret Roper Catholic Primary

Reading – well above average: 4.4
Writing – average: 2.2
Maths – well above average: 5.1

Oasis Academy Byron

Reading – average: 2.1
Writing – above average: 2.5
Maths – well above average: 4.8

Aerodrome Primary

Reading – average: -1.0
Writing – average: -1.1
Maths – average: -0.2

Harris Primary Academy Kenley

Reading – average: 1.1
Writing – below average: -1.8
Maths – average: -0.7

Smitham Primary

Reading – average: -0.7
Writing – average: -1.3
Maths – average: -0.6

Ecclesbourne Primary

Reading – average: -0.4
Writing – average: -0.6
Maths – average: -0.4

Ridgeway Primary

Reading – average: -0.2
Writing – average: -0.1
Maths – average: -0.4

St Mary’s Catholic Junior

Reading – above average: 2.1
Writing – above average: 2.1
Maths – well above average: 6.4

Forest Academy

Reading – average: 1.2
Writing – above average: 2.8
Maths – average: 2.1

Harris Primary Academy Benson

Reading – average: -0.8
Writing – average: 0.9
Maths – average: 0.8

Keston Primary

Reading – average: 0.1
Writing – average: -1.5
Maths – average: 0.6

Gresham Primary

Reading – above average: 1.8
Writing – average: 1.0
Maths – above average: 2.1

Oasis Academy Ryelands

Reading – above average: 1.8
Writing – average: 0.9
Maths – well above average: 3.4

St Aidan’s Catholic Primary

Reading – average: 2.0
Writing – average: -1.8
Maths – average: -1.1

New Valley Primary

Reading – average: -0.3
Writing – average: -1.2
Maths – average: -0.1

Purley Oaks Primary

Reading – average: 0.0
Writing – average 0.1
Maths – average: 0.0

St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary

Reading – average: 0.2
Writing – average: 1.3
Maths – average: 0.1

St Peter’s Primary

Reading – average: 0.3
Writing – average: -1.5
Maths – average: 0.2

Downsview Primary and Nursery

Reading – average: -0.1
Writing – average: -1.1
Maths – average: 1.1

Monks Orchard Primary

Reading – average: -0.3
Writing – above average: 1.9
Maths – average: 1.2

St Joseph’s RC Junior

Reading – average: -0.3
Writing – average: 0.1
Maths – average: 0.9

Greenvale Primary

Reading – average: -0.1
Writing – above average: 2.3
Maths – average: 0.4

Harris Primary Academy Croydon

Reading – average: 0.6
Writing – well above average: 3.0
Maths – above average: 1.7

Tudor Academy

Reading – average: -0.4
Writing – average: -1.0
Maths – above average: 2.7

Ark Oval Primary

Reading – average: -0.8
Writing – average: 1.1
Maths – average: 1.1

Broadmead Primary

Reading – above average: 1.8
Writing – well above average: 2.9
Maths – average: -0.9

Norbury Manor Primary

Reading – average: 0.2
Writing – well below average: -3.0
Maths – average: 0.1

Atwood Primary

Reading – average: 0.8
Writing – average: 0.5
Maths – average: 1.3

Chipstead Valley Primary

Reading – average: 1.3
Writing – below average: -2.7
Maths – above average: 1.4

Kensington Avenue Primary

Reading – average: -0.1
Writing – above average: 2.4
Maths – above average: 2.8

Robert Fitzroy Academy

Reading – average: -0.8
Writing – average: 0.1
Maths – average: -1.1

Rowdown Primary

Reading – average: -1.5
Writing – average: 0.3
Maths – average: -1.3

Cypress Primary

Reading – average: 0.7
Writing – average: 1.4
Maths – below average: -1.7

Fairchildes Primary

Reading – average: -1.4
Writing – above average: 2.0
Maths – above average: 2.4

Howard Primary

Reading – well below average: -3.1
Writing – average: -0.4
Maths – average: -0.4

Whitehorse Manor Junior

Reading – average: -0.8
Writing – average: -0.2
Maths – average: 0.3

Hayes Primary

Reading – average: 0.4
Writing – average: -0.1
Maths – average: 0.0

Oasis Academy Shirley Park

Reading – average: -0.9
Writing – above average: 2.2
Maths – well above average: -0.7

Orchard Way Primary

Reading – average: 0.0
Writing – average: 0.3
Maths – above average: 1.1

David Livingstone Academy

Reading – average: -1.7
Writing – average: -0.7
Maths – average: 1.1

West Thornton Primary

Reading – average: -0.4
Writing – above average: 2.5
Maths – above average: 1.7

Courtwood Primary

Reading – average: 0.3
Writing – average: 1.0
Maths – average: 0.7

Elmwood Junior

Reading – below average: -1.6
Writing – average: -0.2
Maths – average: -0.7

John Wood School and Nursery

Reading – well below average: -3.8
Writing – well below average: -5.9
Maths – average: -1.6

Heavers Farm Primary

Reading – well below average: -3.8
Writing – average: -0.8
Maths – well below average: -3.8

Crescent Primary

Reading – below average: -2.2
Writing – average: -0.5
Maths – average: -0.5

St James the Great RC Primary and Nursery

Reading – well above average: 3.1
Writing – well below average: -4.0
Maths – well above average: 3.4

All Saints CofE Primary

Reading – average: -1.6
Writing – average: -1.2
Maths – below average: -3.1

Selsdon Primary and Nursery

Reading – well below average: -2.9
Writing – average: -0.6
Maths – well below average: -3.4

Woodside Primary

Reading – below average: -1.6
Writing – average: -1.3
Maths – average: -0.8

South Norwood Primary

Reading – below average: -2.1
Writing – average: 1.1
Maths – below average: -2.0

St Cyprian’s Greek Orthodox Primary

Reading – well below average: -3.0
Writing – well below average: -4.3
Maths – below average: -3.3

Minster Junior School

Reading – average: -0.7
Writing – average: -0.4
Maths – average: -0.2

Christ Church CofE Primary (Purley)

Reading – average: -1.6
Writing – well below average: -6.8
Maths – average: -0.6

St Mark’s Church of England Primary Academy

Reading – well above average: 4.5
Writing – well above average: 4.9
Maths – well above average: 5.7

Chestnut Park Primary

Reading – below average: -2.6
Writing – well below average: -5.3
Maths – well below average: -4.3

Quest Primary

Reading – well below average: -3.2
Writing – average: -1.5
Maths – below average: -3.0

Kenley Primary

Reading – average: -1.4
Writing – average: 0.3
Maths – average: -0.4

Good Shepherd Catholic Primary and Nursery

Reading – well below average: -2.9
Writing – average: -1.8
Maths – well below average: -4.8

Beulah Junior School

Reading – well below average: -5.1
Writing – well below average: -5.4
Maths – well below average: -3.3

Coulsdon CofE Primary

Reading – average: -0.28
Writing – well below average: -9.5
Maths – average: -1.5

Inside Croydon – If you want real journalism, delivering real news, from a publication that is actually based in the borough, please consider paying for it. Sign up today: click here for more details

• If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

• As featured on Google News Showcase

• We offer FREE ads to community groups when they have members who are paid subscribers to Inside Croydon

• Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here

• Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network

• Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London

• ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine