St Michael's Primary School
Station Road, Withyham, Hartfield, TN7 4BP
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Catherine O'Shea
- Constituency
- Sussex Weald
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 105
- Pupils on roll
- 74
- URN
- 114423
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01892770307
About this school
St Michael's Primary School is a community primary school in Hartfield. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 74 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 9 | 9 | 7 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 33% | 44% | 71% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 89% | 100% | 71% |
| Expected standard in maths | 33% | 56% | 71% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 44% | 67% | 71% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 111.0 | 111.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 98.0 | 102.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -9.40 | - | - |
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 St Michael'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 | East Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 33% | 54.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 44% | 56.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 71% | 57.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 75 |
| 2023/24 | 76 |
| 2024/25 | 73 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Michael's Primary School compares
St Michael's Primary School ranked 39th of 131 primary schools in East Sussex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 68% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 71% | 6.8% | 4.1% | 74 | — |
| St Mary the Virgin Church of England Primary School | 50% | 4.6% | 16.3% | 81 | 1.2 miles |
| Groombridge St Thomas' Church of England Primary School | 74% | 3.9% | 4.6% | 117 | 2.0 miles |
| St John's Church of England Primary School | 66% | 4.4% | 6.8% | 210 | 2.7 miles |
| Fordcombe Church of England Primary School | 62% | 8.2% | 33.9% | 57 | 3.1 miles |
| Langton Green Primary School | 88% | 4.3% | 5.4% | 422 | 3.5 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
-
Graded inspection report10 March 2026
- 31 October 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 4.11%
- English as an additional language
- 0%
- Overall absence
- 6.77%
- Persistent absence
- 20.29%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Mary the Virgin Church of England Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Hartfield
-
Groombridge St Thomas' Church of England Primary School2.0 miles
Primary · Tunbridge Wells
-
St John's Church of England Primary School2.7 miles
Primary · Crowborough
-
Fordcombe Church of England Primary School3.1 miles
Primary · Tunbridge Wells
-
Langton Green Primary School3.5 miles
Primary · Tunbridge Wells
Other schools in Hartfield
Common questions
- What year groups does St Michael's Primary School teach?
- St Michael's Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Hartfield.
- Who is the headteacher of St Michael's Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Michael's Primary School is Mrs Catherine O'Shea, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Michael's Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Michael'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 Michael's Primary School?
- St Michael's Primary School has 74 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Michael's Primary School full?
- St Michael's Primary School has capacity for 105 pupils and 74 on roll (70%), 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 St Michael's Primary School a faith school?
- No. St Michael's Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does St Michael's Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Michael's Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have St Michael's Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 33% in 2022/23 and 71% 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 Michael's Primary School rank locally?
- St Michael's Primary School ranked 39th of 131 primary schools in East Sussex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 68% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% 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 Michael's Primary School's absence rate?
- St Michael's Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Michael's Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Michael'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 30 June 2026.