Swanage St Mark's Church of England Primary School

School overview

Swanage St Mark's Church of England Primary School is a primary school serving Swanage, Dorset, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Church of England religious character. It has 120 pupils aged 4 to 11 on roll. 43% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, well below the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has fallen by 22.0 percentage points compared with the previous year, though small year groups can make these figures swing sharply from year to year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 103 in reading and 103 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 11% 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 Swanage St Mark's Church of England Primary School their first choice was offered one of its 4 Reception places. Overall pupil absence was 7.1%. There are about 40.0 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 41% 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. Swanage St Mark's Church of England Primary School does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. 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.