These are the seven best state primary schools around Twickenham and Hampton. The schools trace a five-mile curve on the west bank of the Thames from Twickenham, through Strawberry Hill to Teddington. They are among the top 15% of schools in the country, as determined by the Schoolsmith Score. Five rank in the top 2% of primary schools in England. They are;
- St Stephen’s Church of England Primary School in Twickenham
- St Mary’s Church of England Primary School in Twickenham,
- Archdeacon Cambridge’s Church of England Primary School in Twickenham,
- St James’s Catholic Primary School in Twickenham,
- St Mary’s and St Peter’s Church of England Primary School in Teddington,
- Collis Primary School in Teddington, and
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Teddington.
The differences between primary schools are less obvious than prep schools, and deliberately so. State education is designed such that all children should receive the same curriculum irrespective of where they are taught, and who is teaching them. So, to differentiate, parents have traditionally looked to SATS results and Ofsted gradings. Beyond that, there is also a commonly held belief that Church schools are ‘better’ schools. Which might be true here as six of the schools are church schools. That’s pretty much it. Hopefully, this comparison might shed a little more light.
There is also a partner review for prep schools in the same area; Twickenham, Hampton and Teddington. And that can be found here (soon).
Age range, gender mix, and faith

The schools educate children from age 4-5 (Reception) to age 11 (Year 6). In addition, St James’s Catholic Primary, Sacred Heart Catholic Primary, and Collis Primary have a nursery class from age 3. Though please be aware that attendance at the nursery is no guarantee of a place in Reception.
Each school provides access to on-site out of hours care from 7.30/8.00am to 5.45/6.30pm. And all use external contractors.
As far as gender mix goes, they are all co-educational, as indeed are almost all state primary schools.
Six of the seven are church schools, similar to the best primary schools in neighbouring areas. They are also Voluntary Aided schools, which means that faith may have a role to play in the admissions policy. Collis Primary is a community school but teaches a mandatory RE curriculum.
Admissions
In terms of admissions policy, please refer to the individual schools’ websites. All operate a catchment system.
But the faithful have some priority at the church schools if the schools are oversubscribed for places in Reception. As most of them are.
Inspections

Ofsted inspectors consider four of these schools to be Outstanding and three Good, according to their latest inspections.
Collis Primary, St Mary’s & St Peter’s CofE Primary, St Mary’s CofE Primary, and St James’s Catholic Primary are the Outstanding schools.
Archdeacon Cambridge’s CofE Primary, St Stephen’s CofE Primary, and Sacred Heart Catholic Primary are the Good schools.
Buildings and grounds

Mostly, these Twickenham and Hampton primary schools occupy purpose-built facilities, built in the 1950s/60s in residential areas.
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary and St Stephen’s CofE Primary occupy Victorian school buildings, with more recent additions. And St Mary’s CofE Primary is based on three different sites within half a mile of each other.
Collis Primary has seven acres of grounds, but none of the others have large plots.
Class sizes and classes per year

These top Twickenham and Hampton primaries are larger-than-average schools. Four of them are three-form entry. Size can be important as it influences the look and feel of a school. And larger schools tend to have more facilities, though not necessarily in proportion to the number of pupils.
There is;
- 1 one-form entry school; Sacred Heart Catholic Primary.
- 2 two-form entry; Archbishop Cambridge’s CofE Primary, St Stephen’s CofE Primary.
- 3 three-form entry; St Mary’s & St Peter’s CofE Primary, St Mary’s CofE Primary, St James’s Catholic Primary.
- Collis Primary School is also a three-form entry school but with four classes in four year groups.
Class sizes at each school are typically 30 pupils.
Facilities at Twickenham and Hampton state primary schools

They all have some specialist facilities to support their curricula though none, apart from Collis Primary, has spacious grounds. For sport, typical facilities include playgrounds and a school hall. Some have grass fields, some have a MUGA. There’s even an outdoor pool at Collis Primary for summer fun.
Beyond the multi-purpose hall, arts facilities are limited. St Mary’s & St Peter’s, however, has two halls, a music room, and a studio. St Stephen’s has a hall, an art room and a music room. As for academic facilities there are libraries, environmental areas, and IT facilities. St Mary’s & St Peter’s CofE Primary also has a cookery room, and a media suite.
St Mary’s & St Peter’s CofE Primary has the best all round specialist facilities for sport, the arts and academic study. Collis Primary has good facilities for sport and academics. They are both large schools, but another large school, St Mary’s CofE Primary, probably has the fewest specialist facilities.
St James’s Catholic Primary is also home to the George Tancred Centre, a local authority specialist provision for autism.
Parents play an important role
It’s often said that what makes pupils successful is the support of their parents. Not the style of school, its structure, or methods, but the parents. However true that is, the best primary schools in Twickenham and Hampton have unusually proactive parental support.
This support is often reflected in the activities and fundraising of the Parent Teacher Associations. In particular at St James’s Catholic Primary, St Mary’s & St Peter’s CofE Primary and St Stephen’s CofE Primary. The PTAs at these schools raise between £25k and £30k per year to enhance the opportunities for pupils.
Academic curricula

All these schools teach a broad curriculum in line with the National Curriculum. And they all use a thematic topic approach, with at least the humanities subjects, to develop pupils’ enquiry skills.
For example, Collis Primary School uses a Building Learning Power curriculum. Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School has regular focus weeks called ‘Do Something Different’. Post Covid this has now expanded into a fully thematic curriculum. St Stephen’s CofE Primary ties its curriculum together with its ‘Global Citizenship’ theme.
St James’s Catholic Primary School does something slightly different. It is an accredited ‘Thinking School’. The school’s curriculum is designed to encourage children to think reflectively, critically, and creatively.
The curricula at the church schools emphasise Christian and Catholic social moralities. Particularly in lessons such as PSHE, Citizenship and in assemblies. RE, naturally, plays a prominent role in the curriculum as a core subject along with English and maths. And there is usually daily worship.
All the schools teach French from at least Year 3. St Mary’s & St Peter’s and St Stephen’s teach French from Year 1.
All of the schools include some element of outdoor learning in their curricula, particularly for their youngest pupils.
Each of the schools offers educational trips. And there residential trips from Year 4 or Year 5 at five of the schools. Archdeacon Cambridge and Collis Primary have a residential trip in Year 6 only.
St Mary’s & St Peter’s CofE Primary School has reached a national final of a general knowledge quiz.
Sport at Twickenham and Hampton state primary schools

Each school teaches between nine and fifteen different sports.
But St Stephen’s CofE Primary, Collis Primary, and St James’s CofE Primary commit to more sport and participation than most. In recognition, St James’s CofE Primary has a Schools Games Mark Platinum accreditation.
The size of the primary school, in terms of number of pupils, has a bearing on the strength of their sports teams. The idea being that larger schools have a larger pool to select from. All of these schools provide and encourage participation in a wide range of sports. But, on average, we should expect Collis Primary, St Mary’s & St Peter’s, St Mary’s CofE, and St James’ to have the strongest teams.
However, no Twickenham and Hampton primary school has a sustained track record for sporting achievement in national competitions.
Pupils at these five of seven Twickenham and Hampton state primary schools benefit from a larger number of after-school activities than at most primary schools. There’s sport of course, but there are clubs for academic enrichment, hobbies, and the arts. Collis Primary, Sacred Heart, St James’, St Mary’s & St Peter’s, and St Stephen’s all offer around 10 arts, academic, and hobbies clubs.
The arts at Twickenham and Hampton state primary schools

The schools all promote engagement with the arts on an individual and ensemble basis. For example, there is art, a choir, instrument learning and dramatic performances at each school. Arts provision is probably best, again, at St Stephen’s CofE Primary, Collis Primary, and St James’s CofE Primary. These schools do more in and out of the classroom.
Academic results

This pick of primary schools in Twickenham and Hampton boast good academic results. On a four-year average, they are all in the top 30% of UK schools for attainment in Year 6 SATS. Six of them are in the top 10%. Which means they are consistently good, not just scoring well one year for a particularly able year group.
Of particular note are St James’s CofE Primary, St Mary’s CofE Primary, and St Stephen’s CofE Primary which are in the top 4% nationwide. Collis Primary is in the top 5%. St Mary’s & St Peter’s CofE Primary is in the top 7%. And Archdeacon Cambridge’s CofE Primary is in the top 8%.
As for pupil progress, again measured on four-year average SATS results, all are in the top third of the country. Progress may be less remarkable than attainment due to the high level of ability of pupils on entry. Topping the tables are St Stephen’s (top 9%) and St Mary’s (top 11%).
Choosing the best state primary school in Twickenham and Hampton
The freedom to choose a state school is somewhat limited as applicants need to live within the school’s catchment area. But there may be a choice of more than one. Most Education Authorities offer the opportunity to select preferred schools, albeit from a limited list.
These schools are all among the top 15% best primary schools in the country. As I hope this note has shown, any one of them should be a preference. Five of these Twickenham and Hampton primary schools rank significantly higher. St Mary’s CofE Primary ranks in the top 250 schools by Schoolsmith Score. St Mary’s & St Peter’s and Collis Primary rank in the top 120. St James’ Catholic and St Stephen’s CofE rank in the top 20.
Rank | Best Twickenham & Hampton primary schools | Schoolsmith Score |
---|---|---|
1= | St James’s Catholic Primary School | 75 |
1= | St Stephen’s Church of England Primary School | 75 |
3= | Collis Primary School | 73 |
3= | St Mary’s and St Peter’s CofE Primary School | 73 |
5 | St Mary’s Church of England Primary School | 72 |
6 | Archdeacon Cambridge’s CofE Primary School | 70 |
7 | Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School | 69 |
See also the best state primary schools in Kingston and Surbiton, Richmond and Kew, Esher, and Hounslow
Why are these the best state primary schools in Twickenham and Hampton?
Schools that feature in these notes are those with the highest Schoolsmith Scores, not just in Twickenham and Hampton, but nationwide. The Schoolsmith Score is an objective score that accounts for 50 different aspects of schooling, grouped into 5 broad categories. You can read more about them from the links below, and the Schoolsmith Score here.
- their achievements; academic, sporting and artistic,
- the breadth of the education they offer,
- the quality of teaching,
- their facilities,
- their look and feel.
Need more help?
By now you might be wondering what you should be thinking about when choosing a school? It happens to everyone. Why not try my 7 one minute quizzes for those starting their school search? Wood, trees, and all that…