School Chooser

Marvels Lane Primary School

Primary · ages 3-11MixedCouncil385 pupilsNurseryLondonLewisham
School Chooser Score
24
Below
similar schools
Likely range 11 to 47, so it could be “well below”
Out of 100. Better than 16% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
Reached the expected level at 1170%England 63%
Attendance92.7%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families37%Far more than most schools
Places35 spare385 pupils, 420 places
Pupils per teacher18.5School workforce census
Pupils on roll385Census January 2026

Marvels Lane Primary School is a council school in London for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 385 pupils and room for 420. About 36 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 24 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 16% of the 50 schools most like it.

Riddons Road, Grove Park, London, SE12 9RA020 8857 3904marvelslane.lewisham.sch.ukMr Edward Dove headteacherAll details

Ofsted

Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

50 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1170%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level2%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score105.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score106.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 53%53%20172018: 61%61%20182019: 60%60%20192023: 59%59%20232024: 55%55%20242025: 70%70%2025
Since 2017: +17%Steady overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017LewishamEngland
Pupils tested504937485749
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths70%55%59%60%61%53%69%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths2%2%5%0%9%6%10%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score105.0102.0105.0103.0104.0101.0106.4105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score106.0103.0106.0106.0104.0106.0105.5104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score105.0103.0105.0106.0104.0104.0106.0105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard78%67%76%69%70%55%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard82%67%81%83%75%80%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)72%59%65%71%72%63%
Reading progressReading progress score-1.2-0.8-0.7-1.3
Maths progressMaths progress score+0.7+1.7+0.9+4.1
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged58%29%53%48%56%48%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged81%69%67%70%67%58%

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. 2 of the 4 gaps are 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
58%81%
Gap 23 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
59%94%
Gap 35 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Pupils learning English vs all pupils
74%70%
Gap 4 ptsEngland 4 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
4%2%
Gap 2 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.

A few spare places364 pupils for 425 places, 2024/25
86% full

About 61 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have grown by 6% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.

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 Lewisham 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 roll385Census January 2026
Places42092% full
Pupils from low-income families35%37% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English49%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support16%61 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan3%12 pupils with a plan
Average class size24.914 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)39%£215,450 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls189 / 196
White British pupils25%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 24.2 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 25.1 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (39), Autistic spectrum disorder (14), emotional and mental health (13), Moderate learning difficulty (5), Physical disability (1), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll385404404388373382
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals35%34%35%35%33%28%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language49%51%51%47%48%50%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support10%13%8%11%14%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans3%4%2%2%3%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance92.7%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school24.5%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.52024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission3.7%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence7.3%6.7%6.4%7.0%4.7%4.2%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.6%2.9%2.9%4.0%2.9%2.2%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence3.7%3.8%3.5%3.0%1.8%2.0%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence24.5%24.1%23.2%27.1%11.9%10.4%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.50.00.00.30.3
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

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

Teachers20.3full-time equivalent, 22 people
Pupils per teacher18.5Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers96%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants16.1full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£62,932
Teachers who left in the year6%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher3.32024/25

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£8,512England £7,738. Total £3.4m
Income per pupil£8,171England £7,697. Total £3.2m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,793England £3,480
Money in reserve-4%In the red: -£125k, -£314 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£135kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£8,512spent 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 m46012 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate88 per 1,000 peopleabout the England average
Typical house price£470,000Lewisham
Nearest bus stop50 mMarvels Lane Primary School, 11 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 Vincent's Catholic Primary SchoolAcademy730 m203Report card 202685Compare
Elmstead Wood Primary SchoolAcademy950 m280No overall grade 202444Compare
Haberdashers' Knights PrimaryAcademy0.8 miles207Good 202360Compare
Cooper's Lane Primary SchoolCouncil0.8 miles646Good 202251Compare
Launcelot Primary School and NurseryCouncil0.8 miles307Report card 20269Compare
Orion RavensworthAcademy0.8 miles273Good 202423Compare
Good Shepherd RC SchoolRoman Catholic1.0 miles201No overall grade 202512Compare
Burnt Ash Primary SchoolAcademy1.0 miles428Outstanding 201996Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Marvels Lane Primary School with the 49 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 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats16%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the bottom quarter of its group. Its score of 24 is 27 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 6 · middle 50 · highest 96100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 49 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Marvels Lane 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
Mayflower Primary SchoolCouncil6.2 miles400Outstanding 202296Compare
Michael Faraday SchoolCouncil6.5 miles429Good 202438Compare
Belvedere Junior SchoolAcademy6.9 miles326Not inspected66Compare
Globe Primary SchoolCouncil7.8 miles412Outstanding 202494Compare
Heathbrook Primary SchoolCouncil8.1 miles339Not inspected76Compare
Hackney New Primary SchoolFree school9.1 miles344Not inspected86Compare
William Ford CofE Junior SchoolChurch of England9.2 miles319Good 202442Compare
The Leys Primary SchoolCouncil9.4 miles377Good 202366Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 24 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 24% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 11 to 47. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. 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%in line
-0.05
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 50 pupils
Ofsted inspection0%no data
Progress pupils make20%in line
-0.08
DfE progress measure; 50 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%in line
0.00
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%well below
-0.19
2024/25; 322 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%in line
-0.02
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 50 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 Marvels Lane Primary School a good school?

The figures are weak. Marvels Lane Primary School scores 24 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 16% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 11 to 47, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

How good are Marvels Lane Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 70% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 2% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Marvels Lane Primary School have?

385 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 420 places, so it is 92% full.

Is Marvels Lane Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 61 places were empty in 2024/25 (14% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Marvels Lane Primary School?

Pupils were in school 92.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 25% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Marvels Lane Primary School?

The average class had 24.9 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
Riddons Road, Grove Park, London, SE12 9RA
Telephone
020 8857 3904
Website
www.marvelslane.lewisham.sch.uk
Headteacher
Mr Edward Dove
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Lewisham
Ward
Grove Park
Constituency
Lewisham East
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
100696 · LAESTAB 2092403 · UKPRN 10074631

Where these figures come from