Merton’s state schools outscore 89% of towns in England
Merton’s secondaries average an Attainment 8 score of 54 across eight GCSEs, above both London’s towns (51.7) and towns in England (45.9). 56 state-funded schools are located in Merton’s built-up area. Merton grades A for schools, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results: #17 of 33 in London. Ofsted is shown, not graded.
Merton’s secondary results beat 88% of English towns; its primary results beat 82%. 68% of the London borough’s 11-year-olds meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% at the average school in England and 68% across Merton. The spread between primaries is wide: 92% at Benedict Academy, 44% at Bond Primary School. Every school’s result ↓
Benedict beats its intake
Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually get lower results. At Benedict Academy, 65% of pupils are on free school meals and 92% meet the expected standard; a typical school in England with that intake reaches 51%. Results and intake ↓
Written from the Department for Education and Ofsted data on this page.
School Grade
Merton grades A for schools
Against every town in England with results; Wales publishes none.
Primary: reading, writing and maths at 11 (68% meet the standard)Better than 82% of towns in England
Secondary: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (54 and 58%)Better than 88% of towns in England
Each of Merton’s 43 primaries: % meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (2023–25)
Each of Merton’s 9 secondaries: Attainment 8 (2025/26)
England’s average schoolMerton’s average school
The primary figure: 43 primaries in the town, 6,184 pupils in results over three years. The secondary figure: 9 secondaries in the town, 1,777 pupils in results. Mainstream state schools only (grammar schools included); special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19 colleges are listed below but not graded. Each school’s results are compared with every school in England, then weighted by its pupils.
Map
Where Merton’s 56 state schools are
Each school at its address, coloured by its own letter and sized by pupils. Open a school for its own page. The dashed shape is Merton’s built-up area.
PrimarySecondarySpecial, nursery, 16–19Size: pupilsABCDNo letter
Most schools give places by distance once siblings are in, so the schools nearest a home matter more than any league table.
Results and intake
Which schools do better than their intake suggests
Schools with more pupils on free school meals tend to get lower results. The dashed line is the typical school in England for each level of free school meals; the band holds the middle two-thirds. A dot above the band is doing better than schools like it.
Primaries: KS2 reading, writing and maths against free school meals
Secondaries: Attainment 8 against free school meals
The share of pupils on free school meals runs from 6% at Dundonald Primary School to 65% at Benedict Academy. Against schools with the same intake, Benedict Academy does best: 92% with 65% on free school meals, where a typical school would reach 51%. 33 of 43 primaries and 9 of 9 secondaries are above the line.
Free school meals: pupils eligible now, DfE January 2026 census. The typical-school line is a straight-line fit across every graded school in England. It describes; it doesn’t grade: the School Grade uses results alone.
Getting a place
How school places work in Merton
Merton Council handles applications for every state school in Merton, academies included. You apply to the council where you live, even for a school in another area.
Secondary (starting at 11)Apply by 31 October of Year 6. Offers on 1 March.
Primary (starting in Reception)Apply by 15 January before the September your child starts. Offers on 16 April.
Moving mid-yearApply to the council for an in-year place; it tells you which schools have room.
When a school is full
Every school publishes its admissions rules. Children in care come first, then, at most schools, brothers and sisters of current pupils, then those who live nearest. 14 of Merton’s 52 mainstream schools have a religious character; some of them give priority by church attendance, so check each school’s rules. Infant classes are limited to 30 by law. If you’re refused a place, you can appeal to an independent panel.
Pupils on roll as a share of the school’s official capacity. The black tick is 100%; 5 schools are at or over it.
St Mark's109%
St John Fisher incl. nursery103%
Ricards Lodge High102%
Wimbledon College101%
Ursuline High School Wimbledon101%
Bishop Gilpin incl. nursery99%
Rutlish98%
St Mary's incl. nursery97%
Wimbledon Chase incl. nursery95%
St Teresa's incl. nursery95%
Show all 52 schools
Hollymount incl. nursery94%
Singlegate incl. nursery94%
Merton Park incl. nursery93%
Holy Trinity incl. nursery93%
Harris Academy Wimbledon93%
Harris Academy Merton incl. nursery93%
Aragon incl. nursery92%
Harris Academy Merton91%
Dundonald incl. nursery91%
Liberty incl. nursery91%
Sacred Heart incl. nursery91%
Pelham incl. nursery88%
Hillcross incl. nursery88%
St Matthew's incl. nursery88%
Wimbledon Park incl. nursery87%
Merton Abbey incl. nursery86%
St Thomas of Canterbury incl. nursery85%
Poplar incl. nursery84%
The Sherwood incl. nursery84%
Abbotsbury incl. nursery84%
Morden incl. nursery84%
West Wimbledon incl. nursery83%
Cranmer incl. nursery82%
Raynes Park High79%
St Mark's incl. nursery79%
Gorringe Park incl. nursery78%
Park76%
Harris Academy Morden76%
All Saints' incl. nursery74%
Beecholme incl. nursery74%
Benedict incl. nursery74%
The Priory incl. nursery71%
Hatfeild incl. nursery68%
Joseph Hood incl. nursery67%
Malmesbury incl. nursery66%
Lonesome incl. nursery65%
Garfield incl. nursery61%
Haslemere incl. nursery57%
St Peter and Paul incl. nursery57%
William Morris incl. nursery57%
Links incl. nursery55%
Bond incl. nursery54%
DfE register of schools (GIAS), January 2026 census. Capacity often excludes a nursery class, so a school with a nursery can show over 100%.
The schools
56 state schools in Merton
Each school’s own letter compares its results with every state school in England of the same phase: Key Stage 2 for primaries, GCSEs for secondaries. Open a school for its results, how its letter is worked out, Ofsted and a map.
Letters of Merton’s schoolsA23B16C12D14 without a letter
Key result: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (GCSEs, 2025/26 provisional) for secondaries; the share meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (KS2, DfE’s three-year average) for primaries. Pupils: the January 2026 school census. No letter: an infant or first school (no KS2 tests), a new school, a small cohort DfE suppresses, or a special school, nursery or college. Independent schools aren’t included.
Ofsted
Ofsted report cards
Each school’s latest inspection; report cards replace one-word judgements as schools are re-inspected.
Outstanding 7Good 11Report card 6Ungraded inspection only 32
Ofsted stopped giving one-word judgements in 2024. Until a school is re-inspected, its last overall judgement is its most recent single grade; a school judged years ago may have changed a lot since.
Since November 2025 Ofsted gives each area of a school one of five grades (exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention, urgent improvement) and says whether safeguarding is met, instead of one overall word. 6 of Merton’s 56 state schools have a report card so far; the others show their last inspection under the old framework. Ofsted is never part of the School Grade.
Academies are state schools run by a trust rather than the council: the trust employs the staff and can set its own curriculum and term dates. Admissions still go through the council.
Run by
Schools
Pupils
Their letters
Harris FederationHarris Academy Merton, Harris Academy Wimbledon, Harris Academy Morden, Harris Academy Merton
4
3,803
A−AB+B+
Sancta Familia Catholic Academy TrustUrsuline High School Wimbledon, St John Fisher
2
1,809
AB
Step Academy TrustBenedict, Park
2
337
A+A+
Anthem Schools TrustSt Mark's
1
983
C+
Willow Learning TrustAragon
1
597
A+
Pace Academy TrustBeecholme
1
155
B−
Merton CouncilRicards Lodge High, Rutlish, Wimbledon College, Raynes Park High, Wimbledon Chase, Singlegate, Wimbledon Park, Poplar, St Teresa's, Bishop Gilpin, Liberty, Hollymount, Hillcross, Gorringe Park, Cranmer, St Mary's, Holy Trinity, Dundonald, St Thomas of Canterbury, Pelham, Sacred Heart, Abbotsbury, Malmesbury, Hatfeild, Joseph Hood, All Saints', Garfield, Links, Haslemere, Lonesome, William Morris, Cricket Green, The Sherwood, West Wimbledon, St Peter and Paul, Bond, Merton Park, St Mark's, Morden, St Matthew's, Merton Abbey, Perseid, The Priory, Melrose, Canterbury Campus and Lavender Campus
In England young people stay in education or training until 18: a sixth form, a college, or an apprenticeship.
Every state secondary in Merton has its own sixth form. The nearest college is St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College, a further-education college 3.5 miles away.
Special schools and alternative provision in Merton
Merton has 3 special schools (Cricket Green, Melrose and Perseid: 619 pupils) and 1 alternative provision school, for pupils who can’t attend mainstream school for a time. A special-school place isn’t applied for like a mainstream one: for a child with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), Merton Council names the school in the plan, after asking the family’s preference. These schools have no letter, because their results don’t compare with mainstream schools’. Their cards ↑
Merton Council’s SEND Local Offer lists support beyond these schools.
Towns its size
10th of 44 English towns and cities of 150,000 to 290,000
Ranked by School Grade, best first: the towns and cities either side of Merton, and the top and bottom of the group.
Sutton has the best-graded schools nearby (A+). Small places often use the schools within 3 km, so neighbours can share schools.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Expected standard at Key Stage 2. The share of 11-year-olds who reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths together, in tests and teacher assessment at the end of primary school. We use DfE’s three-year average (2023–2025) to steady small schools.
•
Higher standard. The share working at greater depth in all three. In Merton: 11% (England’s average school: 8%).
•
Attainment 8. A pupil’s GCSE grades across eight subjects, with English and maths counted twice, added up. 50 is roughly a grade 5 in every subject.
•
Grade 5+ in English and maths. A strong pass in both. Grade 4 is a standard pass.
•
Provisional. 2025/26 GCSE figures are DfE’s first release; revised figures follow in February, usually within a point.
•
Progress 8. Not shown: there is none for 2025/26, because these pupils sat no KS2 tests in 2020 (Covid).
•
Free school meals. Pupils eligible for free school meals now, from the January census: the usual measure of how many pupils come from low-income homes.
•
Independent schools. Not included: they publish no results comparable with state schools’.
Questions about schools in Merton
Are schools in Merton good?
Merton’s state schools earn an A against schools across England: primary results beat 82% of towns in England; secondary results beat 88% of towns in England, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results. School places are handled by Merton council.
What is the best secondary school in Merton?
On 2025/26 GCSE results, Ursuline High School Wimbledon: Attainment 8 of 63.2 and 73% with grade 5+ in English and maths, against 47.3 at the average school in England. Results are one measure; distance decides most places.
What is the best primary school in Merton?
On Key Stage 2 results over 2023–25, Benedict Academy: 92% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% at the average school in England.
Do Merton secondary schools have sixth forms?
Yes, all 9 do.
How do I apply for a school place in Merton?
Through Merton Council, for every state school including academies. Secondary applications close on 31 October (offers 1 March); primary on 15 January (offers 16 April).
How many schools in Merton are full?
5 of 52 mainstream schools have at least as many pupils as places, on DfE’s January 2026 census. A full school still admits by its rules, usually distance after siblings.
How many state schools are in Merton?
56 open state-funded schools are located in Merton’s built-up area: 43 primary, 9 secondary and 4 other (special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19). Independent schools aren’t included.
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 · DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), further-education and sixth-form colleges · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
