Merton Infant School and Nursery
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Merton Infant School and Nursery is a council school in Basingstoke for boys and girls aged 2 to 7. It has 216 pupils and room for 270. About 18 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 94 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 90% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
Romsey Close, Popley Way, Popley, Basingstoke, RG24 9HB01256 324507mertoninfants.comMrs Larissa James 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.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 13 March 2024 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have fallen by 16% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place (48 offers for 60 places).
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.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (24), Autistic spectrum disorder (10), Moderate learning difficulty (5), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (4), emotional and mental health (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 216 | 215 | 177 | 203 | 204 | 191 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 16% | 21% | 33% | 30% | 27% | 26% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 38% | 40% | 33% | 30% | 30% | 25% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 9% | 20% | 22% | 17% | 24% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 5% | 7% | 4% | 3% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 4.3% | 5.8% | 6.6% | 6.0% | 4.4% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.5% | 4.6% | 5.0% | 4.9% | 3.9% | 3.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.8% | 1.2% | 1.6% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 1.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 10.7% | 14.2% | 18.7% | 15.7% | 12.2% | 10.8% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.9 | 1.7 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
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.
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
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.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merton Junior School | Council | 70 m | 245 | Good 2022 | 11 | Compare |
| St Bede's Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 420 m | 451 | Good 2023 | 92 | Compare |
| Oakridge Infant School | Council | 660 m | 320 | Report card 2025 | 91 | Compare |
| Oakridge Junior School | Council | 700 m | 345 | Good 2020 | 90 | Compare |
| South View Infant and Nursery School | Council | 0.7 miles | 211 | Good 2024 | 7 | Compare |
| South View Junior School | Council | 0.7 miles | 255 | Good 2022 | 29 | Compare |
| Marnel Junior School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 460 | Outstanding 2024 | 79 | Compare |
| Marnel Community Infant School | Council | 0.7 miles | 356 | Outstanding 2023 | 98 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Merton Infant School and Nursery 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.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 94 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 94% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 84 to 98. 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 at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | well above | +0.65 | Ofsted grade, 1.2 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | above | +0.09 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.10 | 2024/25; 131 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | 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 Merton Infant School and Nursery a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Merton Infant School and Nursery scores 94 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 90% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 84 to 98, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Merton Infant School and Nursery's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Merton Infant School and Nursery not judged at its last full inspection on 8 July 2025.
How many pupils does Merton Infant School and Nursery have?
216 pupils aged 2 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 80% full.
Is Merton Infant School and Nursery oversubscribed?
Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.
What is attendance like at Merton Infant School and Nursery?
Pupils were in school 95.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 11% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Merton Infant School and Nursery?
The average class had 28.7 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
- Romsey Close, Popley Way, Popley, Basingstoke, RG24 9HB
- Telephone
- 01256 324507
- Website
- www.mertoninfants.com
- Headteacher
- Mrs Larissa James
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- Ward
- Popley
- Constituency
- Basingstoke
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 116004 · LAESTAB 8502271 · UKPRN 10075365
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Hampshire council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.