St Margarets CofE Primary School
15-19 North Street, Barking, IG11 8AS
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- GENESIS EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sophie Bannon
- Diocese
- Diocese of Chelmsford
- Sponsor
- Genesis Education Trust (GET)
- Constituency
- Barking
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 393
- URN
- 144035
- Local authority
- Barking and Dagenham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02085944003
About this school
St Margarets CofE Primary School is a Church of England primary academy in Barking. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 393 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 19 March 2025, where inspectors found the school has improved significantly. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 40 | 43 | 46 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 88% | 88% | 89% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 13% | 21% | 13% |
| Expected standard in reading | 93% | 91% | 91% |
| Expected standard in maths | 90% | 95% | 98% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 93% | 93% | 91% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 109.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 109.0 | 110.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +3.40 | - | - |
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 Margarets CofE 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 | Barking and Dagenham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 88% | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 88% | 62.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 89% | 64.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 364 |
| 2023/24 | 375 |
| 2024/25 | 387 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Margarets CofE Primary School compares
St Margarets CofE Primary School ranked 2nd of 43 primary schools in Barking and Dagenham for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 97% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 89% | 4.8% | 21.2% | 393 | — |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | 83% | 4% | 33.5% | 242 | 0.2 miles |
| Northbury Primary School | 69% | 6% | 24.6% | 832 | 0.3 miles |
| Gascoigne Primary School | 59% | 6.8% | 30.9% | 1,115 | 0.4 miles |
| Greatfields Primary School | — | — | 30% | 50 | 0.5 miles |
| Ripple Primary School | 73% | 5.9% | 26.1% | 856 | 0.7 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)
- 21.19%
- English as an additional language
- 48.8%
- Overall absence
- 4.8%
- Persistent absence
- 15.85%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Barking
-
Northbury Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Barking
-
Gascoigne Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Barking
-
Greatfields Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Barking
-
Ripple Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Barking
Other schools in Barking
St Margarets CofE Primary School ranks 1st of the 11 ranked primary schools in Barking.
- Eastbury Primary School Primary
- Gascoigne Primary School Primary
- George Carey Church of England Primary School Primary
- Greatfields Primary School Primary
- Manor Junior School Primary
- Northbury Primary School Primary
- Ripple Primary School Primary
- Riverside Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Thames View Infants Primary
- Thames View Junior School Primary
- Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Margarets CofE Primary School teach?
- St Margarets CofE Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Barking.
- Who is the headteacher of St Margarets CofE Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Margarets CofE Primary School is Mrs Sophie Bannon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Margarets CofE Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Margarets CofE 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 Margarets CofE Primary School?
- St Margarets CofE Primary School has 393 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St Margarets CofE Primary School full?
- St Margarets CofE Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 393 on roll (94%), 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 Margarets CofE Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St Margarets CofE Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Chelmsford.
- Does St Margarets CofE Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Margarets CofE Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs St Margarets CofE Primary School?
- St Margarets CofE Primary School is part of GENESIS EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Margarets CofE Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 88% in 2022/23 and 89% 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 Margarets CofE Primary School rank locally?
- St Margarets CofE Primary School ranked 2nd of 43 primary schools in Barking and Dagenham for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 97% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% 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 Margarets CofE Primary School's absence rate?
- St Margarets CofE 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 Margarets CofE Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Margarets CofE 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 10 July 2026.