St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School
Waverley Lane, Farnham, GU9 8BQ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- XAVIER CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Martyn Peebles
- Diocese
- Diocese of Arundel and Brighton
- Sponsor
- Xavier Catholic Education Trust
- Constituency
- Farnham and Bordon
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 433
- URN
- 147429
- Local authority
- Surrey
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01252716307
About this school
St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Farnham. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 433 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out 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 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- 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 | 58 | 63 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 74% | 67% | 78% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 16% | 15% |
| Expected standard in reading | 86% | 81% | 85% |
| Expected standard in maths | 95% | 76% | 88% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 91% | 90% | 87% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.40 | - | - |
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 Polycarp's Catholic 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 | Surrey average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 74% | 61.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 67% | 62.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 78% | 62.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 410 |
| 2023/24 | 415 |
| 2024/25 | 419 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School compares
St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School ranked 35th of 205 primary schools in Surrey for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 89% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 78% | 3.8% | 9.6% | 433 | — |
| South Farnham School | 100% | 3.3% | 1.7% | 845 | 0.2 miles |
| St Andrew's Church of England Infant School | — | 4.8% | 15.3% | 90 | 0.6 miles |
| Highfield South Farnham School | 81% | 4.6% | 16.1% | 479 | 0.7 miles |
| Potters Gate CofE Primary School | 72% | 4.5% | 11.4% | 535 | 0.8 miles |
| St Peter's CofE Primary School | 77% | 5% | 9.4% | 420 | 1.4 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)
- 9.55%
- English as an additional language
- 18.9%
- Overall absence
- 3.78%
- Persistent absence
- 5.16%
Location
Nearby schools
-
South Farnham School0.2 miles
Primary · Farnham
-
St Andrew's Church of England Infant School0.6 miles
Primary · Farnham
-
Highfield South Farnham School0.7 miles
Primary · Farnham
-
Potters Gate CofE Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Farnham
-
St Peter's CofE Primary School1.4 miles
Primary · Farnham
Other schools in Farnham
St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School ranks 4th of the 10 ranked primary schools in Farnham.
- All Saints CofE Aided Infant School Primary
- Badshot Lea Village Infant School Primary
- Bentley Church of England Primary School Primary
- Crondall Primary School Primary
- Folly Hill Infant Academy Primary
- Hale Nursery & Primary Academy Primary
- Highfield South Farnham School Primary
- Potters Gate CofE Primary School Primary
- Rowledge Church of England Controlled Primary School Primary
- South Farnham School Primary
- St Andrew's Church of England Infant School Primary
- St John's CofE Aided Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School teach?
- St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Farnham.
- Who is the headteacher of St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School is Mr Martyn Peebles, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Polycarp's Catholic 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 many pupils are at St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School?
- St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School has 433 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School full?
- St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 433 on roll (103%), so it is at or above 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 Polycarp's Catholic Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.
- Does St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Is St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School part of an academy trust?
- St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School is part of XAVIER CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 74% in 2022/23 and 78% 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 Polycarp's Catholic Primary School compare with other schools in Surrey?
- St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School ranked 35th of 205 primary schools in Surrey for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 89% 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 Polycarp's Catholic Primary School's absence rate?
- St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Polycarp's Catholic 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.