St James the Great RC Primary and Nursery School

School overview

St James the Great RC Primary and Nursery School is a primary school serving Thornton Heath, Croydon, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Roman Catholic religious character. It has 448 pupils aged 3 to 11 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated St James the Great RC Primary and Nursery School 'Outstanding'. 71% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, above the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has fallen by 3.0 percentage points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 39% of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 107 in reading and 107 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 7% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). St James the Great RC Primary and Nursery School is oversubscribed: about 8 in 10 of the families who made it their first choice were offered a Reception place for September 2026, with 69 first choices for 59 places. Overall pupil absence was 4.4%. There are about 24.9 pupils per teacher. 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.