Duncombe Primary School

Community school·Primary school London, Islington·N19 4JA
Composite score
60.7
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#3,734
National rank
#836
In London
#18
In Islington
Top 25%
Nationally

Performance (KS2 SATs)

% meeting expected RWM
79%
% achieving higher RWM
8%
Reading average scaled score
108.0
National avg ≈ 105
Maths average scaled score
106.0
National avg ≈ 104
Reading progress
—
Maths progress
—

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Early years provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
26 first choices, 59 places
First choices per place
0.44
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
84
any preference, for 59 places
Applications from another council area
2%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.36
00.511.5
1 per place
0.8620220.8820230.8620240.8020250.442026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Duncombe Primary School first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
2–11
Pupils on roll
438
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
68.4%
Typical primary: 21.5%
% EAL
68.3%
Typical primary: 9.6%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
21.5%
Typical primary: 14.3%
% with an EHC plan
8.9%
Typical primary: 3.0%

Attendance

Overall absence
7.4%
Typical primary: 5.3%
Persistently absent
25.4%
Typical primary: 13.3%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
15.9
Typical primary: 20.7
Spend per pupil
£10,221
Typical primary: £6,960

“Typical” = the median primary school in England. What this means

Nearby primary schools

Location

About Duncombe Primary School

Duncombe Primary School is a primary school in London, Islington, classified by the DfE as a community school. Around 438 pupils aged 2 to 11 attend the school. The school holds a 'Good' judgement from Ofsted. 79% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, well above the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has fallen by 4.0 percentage points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 25% of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 108 in reading and 106 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 8% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Duncombe Primary School their first choice was offered one of its 59 Reception places. Overall pupil absence was 7.4%. There are about 15.9 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 68% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. Given the recent dip in results, it may be worth asking the school what is behind the change and what is being done in response. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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