At the top of the list is this local authority-maintained Anglican primary school, in the village of Harewood, just north of the city. It has a roll size of about 96, and was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 90% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally.placeholder image
At the top of the list is this local authority-maintained Anglican primary school, in the village of Harewood, just north of the city. It has a roll size of about 96, and was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 90% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally. | Google

The 20 best performing state primary schools in Leeds - as the new school year approaches

Amber Allott
By Amber Allott

Education & science writer

Published 11th Aug 2025, 11:55 GMT

These local primary schools excel at helping their pupils master the basics 📚

Across Leeds, a whole new cohort of children will be embarking on the first step of their education journey in a matter of weeks.

Families are in the midst of the summer holidays, but the new 2025/26 school year is right around the corner - set to begin around September 1 for most schools in the area. Amongst those returning to the classroom across the wider city will be more than eight thousand children whose families applied for a new primary school place this year, with a large portion of them likely joining Reception classes.

This is where they will start to build up many of the essential school skills that will carry them through the rest of their time in education. With this in mind, we’ve taken a closer look at the top-performing primary schools across the Leeds City Council area, based on our own metric.

The key figure we use is the proportion of each school’s pupils who completed Year 6 in the most recently-completed 2023/24 academic year, who met the Government’s expected standards in three essential school skills areas: reading, writing and maths. We’ve only included schools which had over 80% of their pupils meet this important mark. It is worth noting that this data has now been finalised, so results and placings may differ slightly from earlier reports based on interim results.

On top of that, we made sure that each school included had a positive rating in its latest Ofsted inspection. These are undergoing some changes, but we’ve restricted the list to schools with either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade under the previous system, or positive ratings across all categories under the current one. This means their quality of education, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and safeguarding practices all met or exceeded Government standards.

Here were the 20 Leeds area schools that came out on top:

St John the Baptist is a local authority-maintained Anglican primary in the Adel area. It has a roll size of about 210, and in a recent Ofsted inspection, was found to be ‘good’ in all categories. In the 2023/24 school year, 83% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally.

13. Adel St John the Baptist Church of England Primary School

St John the Baptist is a local authority-maintained Anglican primary in the Adel area. It has a roll size of about 210, and in a recent Ofsted inspection, was found to be ‘good’ in all categories. In the 2023/24 school year, 83% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally. | Google

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This is a local authority-maintained primary school in the village of Calverley, out towards Bradford. It has a roll size of about 415, and was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 83% of its pupils also met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally.

14. Calverley Church of England Primary School

This is a local authority-maintained primary school in the village of Calverley, out towards Bradford. It has a roll size of about 415, and was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 83% of its pupils also met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally. | Google

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Corpus Christi is a local authority-maintained Catholic primary school in the Halton Moor area. It has a roll size of about 264, and was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 83% of its pupils again met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally.

15. Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Corpus Christi is a local authority-maintained Catholic primary school in the Halton Moor area. It has a roll size of about 264, and was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 83% of its pupils again met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally. | Google

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Immaculate Heart of Mary is a Catholic primary academy in the Moortown area. It has a roll size of about 442, and was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had 83% of its pupils meet the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally.

16. Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School

Immaculate Heart of Mary is a Catholic primary academy in the Moortown area. It has a roll size of about 442, and was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had 83% of its pupils meet the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally. | Google

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Green Lane is a primary academy out in Garforth. It has a roll size of about 443, and was most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 82% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally.

17. Green Lane Primary Academy

Green Lane is a primary academy out in Garforth. It has a roll size of about 443, and was most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 82% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally. | Google

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Another primary academy in Garforth, this one has a roll size of about 219. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 81% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally.

18. East Garforth Primary Academy

Another primary academy in Garforth, this one has a roll size of about 219. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 81% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths - compared to averages of 59% locally and 61% nationally. | Google

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