School Chooser

Barn Croft Primary School

Primary · ages 4-11MixedCouncil170 pupilsLondonWaltham Forest
School Chooser Score
82
Above
similar schools
Likely range 62 to 92
Out of 100. Better than 77% of the 50 schools most like it. Getting better year on year.
OfstedNo overall gradeLast Ofsted inspection, July 2025
Reached the expected level at 1168%England 63%
Attendance96.2%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families17%Far fewer than most schools
Places40 spare170 pupils, 210 places
Pupils per teacher16.9School workforce census

Barn Croft Primary School is a council school in London for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 170 pupils and room for 210. About 16 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 82 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 77% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.

2 Brunel Road, Walthamstow, London, E17 8SB020 8521 1145barncroftprimaryschool.orgMrs Adrien SCHWEITZER headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 8 July 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

19 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.

Reached the expected level at 1168%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level26%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score109.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score108.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 57%57%20172018: 74%74%20182019: 65%65%20192023: 34%34%20232024: 59%59%20242025: 68%68%2025
Since 2017: +11%Improving overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017Waltham ForestEngland
Pupils tested193029231923
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths68%59%34%65%74%57%75%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths26%14%0%4%16%4%16%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score109.0111.0107.0105.0107.0104.0107.6105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score108.0107.0101.0103.0104.0105.0107.3104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score108.0111.0106.0105.0107.0106.0108.0105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard79%90%76%74%84%70%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard68%77%59%70%79%78%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)68%66%45%70%79%65%
Reading progressReading progress score+0.0-0.1+2.8+2.6
Maths progressMaths progress score-4.2-2.7+0.5-0.4
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged57%43%22%71%55%63%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged75%64%40%63%100%53%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 4 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
57%75%
Gap 18 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
58%86%
Gap 28 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Pupils learning English vs all pupils
57%68%
Gap 11 ptsEngland 4 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
14%26%
Gap 12 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Plenty of spare places171 pupils for 210 places, 2024/25
81% full

39 places were empty (19% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 12% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Waltham Forest council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll170Census January 2026
Places21081% full
Pupils from low-income families17%17% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English31%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support18%30 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan11%19 pupils with a plan
Average class size23.56 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)18%£48,050 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls87 / 83
White British pupils40%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 21.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 24.8 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (13), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (11), Autistic spectrum disorder (8), Specific learning difficulty (6), Other difficulty or disability (4), Moderate learning difficulty (2).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll170183205213217210
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals17%21%17%17%17%18%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language31%31%35%38%39%42%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support19%22%21%20%22%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans12%12%11%8%6%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance96.2%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school5.9%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils1.12024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission0.8%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence3.8%5.4%6.3%5.9%3.6%4.2%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.1%4.2%5.0%4.5%2.4%2.9%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence0.8%1.2%1.3%1.4%1.2%1.2%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence5.9%12.1%14.3%15.0%6.8%8.6%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate1.14.94.73.71.0
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers10.1full-time equivalent, 12 people
Pupils per teacher16.9Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants7.7full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£54,042
Teachers who left in the year72%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher0.42024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£10,498England £7,738. Total £1.9m
Income per pupil£9,813England £7,697. Total £1.8m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,833England £3,480
Money in reserve-16%In the red: -£284k, -£1,589 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£123kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£10,498spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m47912 months to June 2026, mostly anti-social behaviour
Local crime rate73 per 1,000 people20% lower than the England average
Typical house price£530,000Waltham Forest
Nearest bus stop50 mBarn Croft Primary School, 8 stops within 500 m

Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.

Nearby schools

The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
St Saviour's Church of England Primary SchoolAcademy420 m356Outstanding 201997Compare
South Grove Primary SchoolCouncil450 m485Outstanding 202494Compare
Coppermill Primary SchoolCouncil660 m195Good 202486Compare
Edinburgh Primary SchoolCouncil770 m153Good 202462Compare
Sybourn Primary SchoolAcademy850 m521Outstanding 202398Compare
Mission Grove Primary SchoolCouncil870 m805Good 202313Compare
Thomas Gamuel Primary SchoolAcademy930 m338Report card 202690Compare
St Patrick's Catholic Primary SchoolRoman Catholic990 m344Good 202329Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Barn Croft Primary School with the 48 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 48 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats77%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the top quarter of its group. Its score of 82 is 17 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 5 · middle 65 · highest 99100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 48 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Barn Croft Primary School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Grasmere Primary SchoolCouncil2.5 miles220Report card 202689Compare
South Harringay Junior SchoolCouncil2.9 miles234Outstanding 202397Compare
Gillespie Primary SchoolCouncil3.0 miles227Outstanding 202399Compare
St Peter's London Docks CofE Primary SchoolChurch of England4.9 miles233Not inspected94Compare
St Peter's Eaton Square CofE Primary SchoolChurch of England7.3 miles147No overall grade 202595Compare
St Margaret's Lee CofE Primary SchoolChurch of England8.2 miles206Outstanding 202495Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 82 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 82% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 62 to 92. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%above
+0.10
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 19 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 1.2 years old
Progress pupils make20%below
-0.10
DfE progress measure; 19 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%well above
+0.31
results and attendance rising year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%above
+0.09
2024/25; 153 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%above
+0.05
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 19 pupils
What parents say0%no data

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Barn Croft Primary School a good school?

Yes, going by the figures. Barn Croft Primary School scores 82 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 77% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 62 to 92, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been getting better over the last five years.

What is Barn Croft Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Barn Croft Primary School not judged at its last full inspection on 8 July 2025.

How good are Barn Croft Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 68% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 26% went further and reached the higher level. The year group was small, so the percentages jump around a lot from year to year.

How many pupils does Barn Croft Primary School have?

170 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 210 places, so it is 81% full.

Is Barn Croft Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 39 places were empty in 2024/25 (19% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Barn Croft Primary School?

Pupils were in school 96.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 6% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Barn Croft Primary School?

The average class had 23.5 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
2 Brunel Road, Walthamstow, London, E17 8SB
Telephone
020 8521 1145
Website
www.barncroftprimaryschool.org
Headteacher
Mrs Adrien SCHWEITZER
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 4-11
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Waltham Forest
Ward
St James
Constituency
Walthamstow
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
5 January 1998
URN
131057 · LAESTAB 3202083 · UKPRN 10075275

Where these figures come from