Southwold Primary School
Detmold Road, Clapton, Hackney, E5 9NL
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Executive Headteacher
- Mr Stephen O'Brien
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Federation
- The Viridis Federation of Orchard, Southwold & Hoxton Garden Primary Schools
- Constituency
- Hackney North and Stoke Newington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 430
- Pupils on roll
- 341
- URN
- 100242
- Local authority
- Hackney
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02088065201
About this school
Southwold Primary School is a community primary school in Hackney. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 341 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Southwold Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Early years
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 46 | 45 | 47 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 87% | 91% | 91% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 22% | 24% | 32% |
| Expected standard in reading | 93% | 96% | 96% |
| Expected standard in maths | 89% | 93% | 94% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 91% | 91% | 94% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 111.0 | 110.0 | 113.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 108.0 | 109.0 | 111.0 |
| Reading progress | +4.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.40 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Southwold Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Hackney average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 87% | 68.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 91% | 71.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 91% | 72.5% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 370 |
| 2023/24 | 361 |
| 2024/25 | 360 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Southwold Primary School compares
Southwold Primary School ranked 3rd of 50 primary schools in Hackney for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 98% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 91% | 5.6% | 48.5% | 341 | — |
| Harrington Hill Primary School | 66% | 6.4% | 55.1% | 203 | 0.3 miles |
| Northwold Primary School | 90% | 5.3% | 52% | 316 | 0.5 miles |
| St Scholastica's Catholic Primary School | 61% | 7.7% | 70.4% | 209 | 0.5 miles |
| Millfields Community School | 69% | 4.9% | 25.8% | 634 | 0.5 miles |
| Jubilee Primary School | 72% | 5.9% | 32.1% | 445 | 0.6 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Ungraded inspection report24 April 2025
- 16 October 2019
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 48.52%
- English as an additional language
- 50.6%
- Overall absence
- 5.59%
- Persistent absence
- 18.36%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Harrington Hill Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · London
-
Northwold Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · London
-
St Scholastica's Catholic Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · London
-
Millfields Community School0.5 miles
Primary · London
-
Jubilee Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · London
Other schools in Hackney
Common questions
- What ages does Southwold Primary School teach?
- Southwold Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Hackney.
- Who is the executive headteacher of Southwold Primary School?
- The executive headteacher of Southwold Primary School is Mr Stephen O'Brien, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Southwold Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Southwold Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Southwold Primary School?
- Southwold Primary School has 341 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Southwold Primary School full?
- Southwold Primary School has capacity for 430 pupils and 341 on roll (79%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Southwold Primary School a faith school?
- No. Southwold Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Southwold Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Southwold Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Is Southwold Primary School part of an academy trust?
- Southwold Primary School is part of the The Viridis Federation of Orchard, Southwold & Hoxton Garden Primary Schools federation. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Southwold Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 87% in 2022/23 and 91% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Southwold Primary School compare with other schools in Hackney?
- Southwold Primary School ranked 3rd of 50 primary schools in Hackney for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 98% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Southwold Primary School's absence rate?
- Southwold Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Southwold Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Southwold Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.