SCHOOL PROFILE

Southwood Primary School

Primary Community school URN 131845
Open
Pupils 8,834,192 Latest school census
Capacity 630 Published school capacity
Capacity used 94.1% Pupils as a share of capacity
Age range 3 – 11 Statutory age range
OFSTED

Latest graded inspection

3 July 2023
Latest published outcome Good
OEIF
Quality of education Good
Behaviour & attitudes Good
Personal development Good
Leadership & management Good
SCHOOL DETAILS

About this school

School type Community school
Phase Primary
Gender Mixed
Religious character Does not apply
Local authority Barking and Dagenham
Trust Not applicable
Census date 15 January 2026
PUPIL PROFILE

School community

Latest published pupil characteristics for 2025/26.

2025/26
Total pupils 593 567 full-time · 26 part-time
Female pupils 296 49.9% of pupils
Male pupils 297 50.1% of pupils

Free school meals

Pupils eligible for free school meals.

27.7%
2.9 pts above England
School 27.7%
Barking and Dagenham 26.4%
London 26.3%
England 24.8%

English as an additional language

Pupils whose first language is not English.

59.2%
38.9 pts above England
School 59.2%
Barking and Dagenham 48.5%
London 39.2%
England 20.3%

Young carers

Pupils recorded as young carers.

0.0%
1.0 pts below England
School 0.0%
Barking and Dagenham 0.8%
London 0.5%
England 1.0%

Ethnicity

Largest recorded pupil groups.

White British
25.5%
151
Any other White background
23.9%
142
Bangladeshi
12.5%
74
Pakistani
10.1%
60
African
9.4%
56
Any other Black background
3.9%
23
Council, regional and national comparisons are pupil-weighted using published school census counts.
ADDITIONAL NEEDS

Special educational needs

Pupils receiving SEN support or with an education, health and care plan.

2025/26
Pupils with SEN 22.3% 132 of 593 pupils
1.4 pts above England England: 20.8%
School 22.3%
Barking and Dagenham 18.4%
London 19.8%
England 20.8%
SEN support 19.6% 116 pupils
England 14.8% 4.8 pts above
EHC plans 2.7% 16 pupils
England 6.0% 3.3 pts below
PRIMARY NEEDS

Most common identified needs

Pupils
Speech, language & communication 61
Autistic spectrum disorder 36
Social, emotional & mental health 16
Moderate learning difficulty 5
Physical disability 5
No specialist assessment yet 5

SEN comparisons are pupil-weighted using published 2025/26 Department for Education school-level data. Primary needs combine pupils receiving SEN support and pupils with EHC plans.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Key stage 2 outcomes

Published Department for Education results for 2024/25.

2024/25
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading, writing & maths

56.0% 4.4 pts below England
School 56.0%
Barking and Dagenham 64.9%
London 67.9%
England 60.4%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading

66.0%

7.8 pts below England

School 66.0%
Barking and Dagenham 76.0%
London 78.2%
England 73.8%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Writing

76.0%

5.7 pts above England

School 76.0%
Barking and Dagenham 72.2%
London 75.1%
England 70.3%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Maths

71.0%

1.0 pts below England

School 71.0%
Barking and Dagenham 75.0%
London 77.7%
England 72.0%
School results show the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard. Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages and are not pupil-weighted official attainment rates.
ATTENDANCE & ABSENCE

Attendance profile

Published Department for Education absence data for 2024/25. Lower absence rates are generally better.

2024/25
ABSENCE RATE

Overall absence

5.85%

Percentage of possible sessions missed.

0.37 pts lower than England
School 5.85%
Barking and Dagenham 6.41%
London 6.38%
England 6.22%
ABSENCE RATE

Persistent absence

19.43%

Pupils missing 10% or more of sessions.

3.61 pts higher than England
School 19.43%
Barking and Dagenham 17.96%
London 17.60%
England 15.82%
ABSENCE RATE

Severe absence

0.00%

Pupils missing 50% or more of sessions.

1.80 pts lower than England
School 0.00%
Barking and Dagenham 1.81%
London 1.67%
England 1.80%
Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages rather than pupil-weighted official absence rates.
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

School context

Comparison with open primary schools.

CAPACITY

Capacity utilisation

94.1% 5.9 pts above England
Southwood Primary School
94.1%
Barking and Dagenham
83.4%
London
85.9%
England
88.2%
Benchmarks use open schools in the same phase. Capacity utilisation is calculated from published pupil and capacity figures.
Sources: Department for Education · Get Information about Schools · Ofsted monthly management information