SchoolFacts.uk

Swanage St Mark's Church of England Primary School

Primary · Swanage · BH19 2PH

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Good

Earlier grade, confirmed by a later ungraded inspection

Ofsted's most recent (ungraded) visit confirmed the school remains Good. Ungraded inspections do not award a new grade.

Inspected 17 April 2024

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

89 pupils · 42% of 210 capacity

School type
Academy converter
Age range
4–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England
Free school meals
49.4% of pupils
English as additional language
17.5% of pupils
SEN support
21.7% of pupils
EHC plan
2.5% of pupils
Website
https://www.stmarksswanage.dorset.sch.uk/
URN
142165

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

29 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
43%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
11%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
103
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
103
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Schools with a similar intake

Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025

This school43%
Median of its 12 closest peers38.5%
Dorset average56.5%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.

The twelve below are matched on intake alone, from every state school in England, so most are not local. They are the evidence behind the comparison above, not a shortlist. For schools you could realistically apply to, see nearby schools.

SchoolOfstedResult
Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolYork · 235 miles awayGood0%
Ryton-On-Dunsmore Provost Williams Church of England AcademyCoventry · 123 miles awayNot yet graded55%
Woodlands Park Primary SchoolMaidenhead · 81 miles awayNeeds attention20%
St Anthony's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary AcademyShipley · 223 miles awayNo current grade88%
St Peter's RC Primary SchoolPlymouth · 96 miles awayGood41%
Weaverham Primary AcademyNorthwich · 185 miles awayGood38%
Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary SchoolPreston · 217 miles awayGood20%
Collingtree Church of England Primary SchoolNorthampton · 119 miles awayGood62%
Eckington Junior SchoolSheffield · 188 miles awayGood39%
Trinity Academy RichmondRichmond · 263 miles awayGood84%
St Wulstan's Roman Catholic Primary School, Great HarwoodGreat Harwood · 220 miles awayGood27%
St Marys Catholic Primary School, WingateCo Durham · 286 miles awayGood31%

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one: same phase and admissions type, and as near as the data allows on size, free school meals, English as an additional language, SEN and the child poverty of the surrounding area (IDACI 2025). Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable: sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and plain geography all matter and are not in the calculation. Results: DfE performance tables, 2024/2025. How the matching works.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
9.5%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
21.2%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
14.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Spending per pupil

This school£7,617
Typical primary school£6,959

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, academy finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Inspection history since 2015

Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
4/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher33.6%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications18.4%18.1%
In managerial or professional work36.8%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways13.3%18.1%
Residents in very good health38.3%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier78.3%62.3%
Social housing9%17.1%
Privately rented12.7%20.5%
Detached houses56.9%22.9%
Flats27.9%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms19.5%21.1%
Households with no car or van13.4%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01020480 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,545 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£350,00081 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£307,500–£420,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (28)£445,000
Semi-detached (30)£342,500
Terraced (16)£334,000
Flat (7)£228,000

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
3a rural school averages 0.3
Collisions at school-run times
3a rural school averages 0.7
All reported collisions
8a rural school averages 3.4
Of those, serious or fatal
3a rural school averages 0.9

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other rural schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Nearby schools