Duncombe Primary School
Islington, N19 4JA · Islington local authority
Islington’s School Grade A− better than 83% of towns in England
What stands out about Duncombe Primary School
- Its own letter, A−: Key Stage 2 results better than 75% of England’s primary schools
- 71% meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 9 points above England’s schools
- 71% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (more than England’s 25%)
- Ofsted: Good, February 2023 (shown, not graded)
- Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026 (26 of 26)
- Homes in its postcode sector (N19 4) sold for a median £626,400; Islington’s is £662,000
Results
DfE · Key Stage 2Reading, writing and maths 71%
Met the expected standard, DfE’s 3-year average 2023–2025 · higher than 74% of England’s 14,979 graded primaries · Islington avg 68%
Each subject, 2025
Met the expected standard; the mark is England’s schools · average scaled score: reading 108, maths 106 (100 = the expected standard)
Disadvantaged pupils, 2025
Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths: the 40 disadvantaged pupils and the rest, beside England’s schools
England’s figures are of its graded mainstream state schools, each school counted once; grammar schools are included, which is why the right-hand tail is long. Small cohorts are suppressed.
How hard is it to get a place at Duncombe Primary School?
Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026.
In every year shown, every family who put it first was offered a place. The council runs the coordinated admissions; each school’s rules (siblings, distance, faith) decide who gets in. DfE doesn’t publish the furthest distance offered, so check the council’s admissions booklet for that. Islington council sets the admissions rules. Apply through Islington council’s coordinated admissions.
Outline = places offered · green = families who put it first · striped = more first choices than places · the 10 most in demand
100% got their first choice
Islington and Islington, side by side
2023–2025All 38 graded primaries in Islington. Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually score lower, so a school above the crowd for its free school meals is doing better than its intake predicts. Islington’s schools are coloured by their letter.
Show as a table
| School | Letter | Free school meals | KS2 expected standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Peter and St Paul Catholic Primary School | A+ | 55% | 90% |
| Hugh Myddelton Primary School | A+ | 50% | 89% |
| Gillespie Primary School | A+ | 15% | 87% |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | A+ | 33% | 85% |
| Drayton Park Primary School | A+ | 40% | 84% |
| Thornhill Primary School | A+ | 39% | 83% |
| Winton Primary School | A+ | 60% | 83% |
| St Mary Magdalene Academy | A | 38% | 82% |
| Ambler Primary School and Children's Centre | A | 31% | 79% |
| Yerbury Primary School | A | 16% | 78% |
| Tufnell Park Primary School | A | 44% | 78% |
| St Mark's CofE Primary School | A | 66% | 77% |
| William Tyndale Primary School | A | 25% | 77% |
| St John's Highbury Vale CofE Primary School | A− | 26% | 73% |
| St Joan of Arc RC Primary School | A− | 29% | 72% |
| Newington Green Primary School | A− | 59% | 72% |
| Canonbury Primary School | A− | 48% | 72% |
| Duncombe Primary School | A− | 71% | 71% |
| Grafton Primary School | A− | 45% | 71% |
| Hargrave Park School | B+ | 56% | 68% |
| Rotherfield Primary School | B | 68% | 66% |
| St John's Upper Holloway CofE Primary School | B− | 53% | 63% |
| St Luke's CofE Primary School | B− | 53% | 63% |
| Hanover Primary School | B− | 38% | 62% |
| St Mary's CofE Primary School | C+ | 59% | 60% |
| Vittoria Primary School | C+ | 63% | 59% |
| Ashmount Primary School | C+ | 39% | 59% |
| Pakeman Primary School | C+ | 62% | 58% |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School | C+ | 53% | 58% |
| Whitehall Park School | C+ | 48% | 58% |
| St Andrew's (Barnsbury) CofE Primary School | C | 70% | 57% |
| Moreland Primary School | C | 57% | 56% |
| Robert Blair School and Children's Centre | C | 44% | 55% |
| St John Evangelist Catholic Primary School | C− | 73% | 50% |
| Laycock Primary School | C− | 61% | 48% |
| Christ The King Catholic Primary School | C− | 60% | 48% |
| Prior Weston Primary School and Children's Centre | D | 42% | 47% |
| Hungerford School | D− | 64% | 36% |
Who goes here
DfE school census, January 2025438 pupils. SEN support is extra help in school for a special educational need; an EHC plan is the council’s legal plan for pupils who need more.
Girls and boys
Duncombe Primary School’s letter
Its own results against England’s schools, not the town’s School Grade.
How school letters are worked out
Each school’s measure is compared with every graded school in England of the same phase: for primaries, the share of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (DfE’s three-year average); for secondaries, Attainment 8 and the share with grade 5 or above in English and maths, each turned into a z-score against England’s schools and averaged. The letter comes from the share of those schools it beats, in the same bands as every grade on the site. The same method gives U.S. schools their letters, against their own state.
Graded: England’s open mainstream state schools with published results (grammar schools included, which select by test). Not graded: special schools, alternative provision, nurseries, 16–19 colleges, UTCs and studio schools, Welsh schools. Ofsted plays no part.
Ofsted inspections
Shown, not graded: Ofsted is never part of a letter or the School Grade.
Graded inspection: Good, February 2023.
Living near Duncombe Primary School
For families thinking of moving: what homes cost around the school, and the other schools close by.
Home prices in N19 4, the school’s postcode sector
Islington property prices →Median sale price each year, 2010 to 2025
By type, the 36 months to August 2026
Homes in N19 4 sell for a little under Islington’s typical price. HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales. Catchments aren’t published, so the postcode sector stands in for “around the school”.
Schools within 1.6 miles
56 state schoolsLocation
Directions ↗Islington, N19 4JA
Duncombe Primary School: common questions
Is Duncombe Primary School a good school?
By its published results, well above average: its Key Stage 2 results are better than 75% of England’s primary schools (its letter is A−), with 71% of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% for England’s schools. Ofsted: Good, February 2023.
How hard is it to get into Duncombe Primary School?
For September 2026, 26 families put Duncombe Primary School first and all of them were offered a place; 59 places were offered in all.
What is Duncombe Primary School’s Ofsted rating?
Its latest inspection outcome is Good (February 2023).
How much do houses cost near Duncombe Primary School?
Homes in its postcode sector, N19 4, sold for a median £626,400 over the 36 months to August 2026 (235 sales).
Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Also: DfE Key Stage 4 performance, schools data (2023/24 and 2024/25 final, 2025/26 provisional) and Key Stage 2 performance tables 2024/25 by subject; DfE school census, January 2025; DfE school-level applications and offers, September 2019 to 2026 entry; HM Land Registry Price Paid by postcode sector, 2010 to August 2026.
A school’s letter is our own summary of its published results against England’s schools of the same phase; Islington’s School Grade is a separate grade, built from the results of the schools in and around the town against other towns. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.