St Matthew's Primary School
Wenlock Street, Luton, LU2 0NJ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Headteacher Jane Thomas
- Constituency
- Luton South and South Bedfordshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 884
- URN
- 109552
- Local authority
- Luton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582723970
About this school
St Matthew's Primary School is a community primary school in Luton. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 884 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
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 | 106 | 112 | 114 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 54% | 60% | 57% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 1% | 1% |
| Expected standard in reading | 67% | 71% | 68% |
| Expected standard in maths | 70% | 74% | 69% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 79% | 77% | 72% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | 0.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.30 | - | - |
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 St Matthew's 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 | Luton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 54% | 58% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 60% | 59.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 57% | 62.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 805 |
| 2023/24 | 833 |
| 2024/25 | 898 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Matthew's Primary School compares
St Matthew's Primary School ranked 30th of 37 primary schools in Luton for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57% | 4.8% | 32.2% | 884 | — |
| Wenlock CofE Academy | 30% | 5.6% | 35.8% | 311 | 0.7 miles |
| Crawley Green Infant School | — | 6.4% | 25.2% | 253 | 0.8 miles |
| River Bank Primary School | 78% | 6.5% | 26% | 793 | 0.8 miles |
| Dallow Primary School | 63% | 5.8% | 26.5% | 605 | 0.9 miles |
| Ramridge Primary School | 56% | 3.7% | 32.4% | 472 | 0.9 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)
- 32.18%
- English as an additional language
- 51.8%
- Overall absence
- 4.78%
- Persistent absence
- 9.91%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Wenlock CofE Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Luton
-
Crawley Green Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · Luton
-
River Bank Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Luton
-
Dallow Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Luton
-
Ramridge Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Luton
Other schools in Luton
St Matthew's Primary School ranks 34th of the 41 ranked primary schools in Luton.
- Beech Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Beechwood Primary School Primary
- Bramingham Primary School Primary
- Bushmead Primary & Nursery School Primary
- Caddington Village School Primary
- Chalton Lower School Primary
- Chantry Primary Academy Primary
- Cockernhoe Endowed CofE Primary School Primary
- Crawley Green Infant School Primary
- Cutenhoe Hill Primary School ( Formerly Surrey Street) Primary
- Dallow Primary School Primary
- Denbigh Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Matthew's Primary School teach?
- St Matthew's Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Luton.
- Who is the headteacher of St Matthew's Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Matthew's Primary School is Headteacher Jane Thomas, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Matthew's Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Matthew's 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 St Matthew's Primary School?
- St Matthew's Primary School has 884 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Matthew's Primary School full?
- St Matthew's Primary School has capacity for 900 pupils and 884 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is St Matthew's Primary School a faith school?
- No. St Matthew's Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does St Matthew's Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Matthew's Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have St Matthew's Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 54% in 2022/23 and 57% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Matthew's Primary School rank locally?
- St Matthew's Primary School ranked 30th of 37 primary schools in Luton for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Matthew's Primary School's absence rate?
- St Matthew's Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Matthew's Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Matthew's 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 2 July 2026.