Elm Wood School
Carnac Street, West Norwood, London, SE27 9RR
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Jo Leith
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Dulwich and West Norwood
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 446
- Pupils on roll
- 364
- URN
- 100597
- Local authority
- Lambeth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02086701621
About this school
Elm Wood School is a community primary school in London. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 364 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 54 | 56 | 45 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 61% | 61% | 64% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 2% | 2% |
| Expected standard in reading | 74% | 82% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 65% | 73% | 78% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 81% | 82% | 80% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.60 | - | - |
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 Elm Wood 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 | Lambeth average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 61% | 63.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 61% | 63.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 64% | 66.5% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 390 |
| 2023/24 | 392 |
| 2024/25 | 366 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Elm Wood School compares
Elm Wood School ranked 41st of 58 primary schools in Lambeth for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 50% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 64% | 5.5% | 32.3% | 364 | — |
| Kingswood Primary School | 66% | 7.4% | 45.8% | 362 | 0.4 miles |
| Dulwich Wood Primary School | 70% | 5.2% | 28.2% | 417 | 0.4 miles |
| St Luke's Church of England Primary School | 71% | 6.9% | 60.7% | 201 | 0.5 miles |
| Julian's School | 64% | 4.1% | 19.8% | 908 | 0.6 miles |
| St Joseph's RC Infant School | — | 7.6% | 29.8% | 154 | 0.8 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 32.28%
- English as an additional language
- 24.6%
- Overall absence
- 5.45%
- Persistent absence
- 13.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Kingswood Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · London
-
Dulwich Wood Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · London
-
St Luke's Church of England Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · London
-
Julian's School0.6 miles
Primary · London
-
St Joseph's RC Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · London
Other schools in London
Elm Wood School ranks 713th of the 948 ranked primary schools in London.
- Abacus Belsize Primary School Primary
- Acton Gardens Primary School Primary
- Adamsrill Primary School Primary
- Addison Primary School Primary
- Ainslie Wood Primary School Primary
- Akiva School Primary
- Albemarle Primary School Primary
- Albion Primary School Primary
- Alderbrook Primary School Primary
- Aldersbrook Primary School Primary
- Alderwood Primary School Primary
- Alexander McLeod Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Elm Wood School teach?
- Elm Wood School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Elm Wood School?
- The headteacher of Elm Wood School is Mrs Jo Leith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Elm Wood School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Elm Wood 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 big is Elm Wood School?
- Elm Wood School has 364 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Elm Wood School full?
- Elm Wood School has capacity for 446 pupils and 364 on roll (82%), 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 Elm Wood School a faith school?
- No. Elm Wood School has no designated religious character.
- Does Elm Wood School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Elm Wood School as having nursery classes.
- How have Elm Wood School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 61% in 2022/23 and 64% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Elm Wood School rank locally?
- Elm Wood School ranked 41st of 58 primary schools in Lambeth for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 50% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Elm Wood School's absence rate?
- Elm Wood School's overall absence rate is 5.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Elm Wood School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Elm Wood 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.