Harbinger Primary School
Cahir Street, London, E14 3QP
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Nimesha Nagahawatte
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Poplar and Limehouse
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 360
- Pupils on roll
- 300
- URN
- 100904
- Local authority
- Tower Hamlets
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02079871924
About this school
Harbinger Primary School is a community primary school in London. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 300 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Outstanding
- 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 | 44 | 40 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 57% | 50% | 63% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 8% | 3% |
| Expected standard in reading | 80% | 73% | 77% |
| Expected standard in maths | 64% | 58% | 77% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 80% | 73% | 80% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.00 | - | - |
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 Harbinger 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 | Tower Hamlets average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 57% | 67.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 50% | 68.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 63% | 68.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 317 |
| 2023/24 | 275 |
| 2024/25 | 291 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Harbinger Primary School compares
Harbinger Primary School ranked 52nd of 61 primary schools in Tower Hamlets for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 63% | 7.1% | 48.6% | 300 | — |
| St Edmund's Catholic School | 69% | 6.2% | 23.4% | 206 | 0.2 miles |
| Canary Wharf College, East Ferry | 79% | 3.5% | 10.5% | 298 | 0.3 miles |
| Arnhem Wharf Primary School | 60% | 6.9% | 46.8% | 476 | 0.5 miles |
| Cubitt Town Primary School | 63% | 7.3% | 56.6% | 679 | 0.6 miles |
| Seven Mills Primary School | 55% | 6.4% | 54.3% | 227 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 48.63%
- English as an additional language
- 54%
- Overall absence
- 7.08%
- Persistent absence
- 22.32%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Edmund's Catholic School0.2 miles
Primary · London
-
Canary Wharf College, East Ferry0.3 miles
Primary · London
-
Arnhem Wharf Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · London
-
Cubitt Town Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · London
-
Seven Mills Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · London
Other schools in London
Harbinger Primary School ranks 740th 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 Harbinger Primary School teach?
- Harbinger Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Harbinger Primary School?
- The headteacher of Harbinger Primary School is Ms Nimesha Nagahawatte, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Harbinger Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Harbinger 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 big is Harbinger Primary School?
- Harbinger Primary School has 300 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Harbinger Primary School full?
- Harbinger Primary School has capacity for 360 pupils and 300 on roll (83%), 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 Harbinger Primary School a faith school?
- No. Harbinger Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Harbinger Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Harbinger Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Harbinger Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 57% in 2022/23 and 63% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Harbinger Primary School rank locally?
- Harbinger Primary School ranked 52nd of 61 primary schools in Tower Hamlets for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Harbinger Primary School's absence rate?
- Harbinger Primary School's overall absence rate is 7.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Harbinger Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Harbinger 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.