St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School

St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School is a happy, inclusive and high-performing school. This full inspection in September 2026 found safeguarding standards met and most areas of provision strong, including achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, and personal development. Pupils achieve well from their starting points, behaviour is excellent, attendance is high, and disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are generally well supported. The school is part of St Benedict Catholic Academy Trust and has had significant leadership and staffing changes; a new headteacher took up post in September 2026, and governance supported a smooth transition. Early years and inclusion are judged at the expected standard rather than strong. Children in early years make excellent progress overall and benefit from a sequenced curriculum, but purposeful interactions are not consistently used to extend language and thinking, and the outdoor area needs further development. Inclusion is effective, with early identification and tailored support, but leaders' monitoring of adaptations is not yet rigorous enough to ensure support keeps pace with pupils' emerging needs. Published outcomes are strong overall, although some vulnerable pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, underachieved in mathematics and in 2024/25 disadvantaged pupils' outcomes were below national averages; leaders have identified this and taken action. The report's next steps focus on embedding the early years curriculum and outdoor learning, strengthening children's communication and language, and applying the same rigour to monitoring SEND adaptations as to the rest of the curriculum. Overall, the school is well led, staff are well supported, and pupils are well prepared for the next stage of education.

Strengths

• Pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well and produce high-quality work across the curriculum.
• Published outcomes are above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Children in the early years make excellent progress from their starting points.
• Phonics is taught systematically and effectively, and pupils become fluent, confident readers.
• Pupils develop secure writing skills with impressive stamina and accuracy.
• Attendance is high, persistent absence is below national averages, and leaders use tailored interventions effectively.
• Pupils' behaviour is excellent, supported by warm and respectful relationships.
• Bullying is rare, and leaders respond swiftly and proportionately to incidents.
• The curriculum is ambitious, well sequenced and adapted to meet the needs of all pupils.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and use effective questioning and assessment.
• Staff benefit from high-quality professional development and trust-wide collaboration.
• Governance and trustees provide effective support and challenge, including through a clear succession plan.
• Personal development and wellbeing are a strength, with strong nurture provision and targeted support.
• Pupils develop respect for diversity, an understanding of British values and confidence through leadership roles.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, visits, careers activities and community projects.
• The school has an inclusive culture with early identification of barriers and effective SEND support.
• Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe and well supported.

Areas for Improvement

• Purposeful interactions in the early years are not consistently embedded, so opportunities to extend children's vocabulary, language and thinking are sometimes missed.
• The early years outdoor area needs further strengthening to enrich learning.
• Monitoring of SEND adaptations is not rigorous enough to ensure support closely matches pupils' emerging needs over time.
• Some vulnerable pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, have underachieved in mathematics in published outcomes.
• Disadvantaged pupils' 2024/25 outcomes were below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics, with wide gaps.
• Leaders' action to address vulnerable pupils' mathematics underachievement is not yet reflected in published outcomes.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.5% of pupils at St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School had 28.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 9.0% of pupils at St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School received £7,061 and spent £6,878 for each of its 411 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £116,000 (£282 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of St Benedict Catholic Academy Trust, income was £7,250 and spending £6,743 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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All schools in Croydon · Croydon local authority: places and applications

St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School is part of St Benedict Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• St James the Great RC Primary and Nursery School Thornton Heath
• Our Lady and St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School London
• Bonus Pastor Catholic College Bromley
• St Anthony's Catholic Primary School London
• St Matthew Academy London
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School London
• St Michael's Catholic College London
• St George's Cathedral Catholic Primary School London
• St Paul's Academy London

What is St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School have?

St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School has 409 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School cover?

St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School?

St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School is at Becket Close, Birchanger Road, South Norwood, London, SE25 5BN.