St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Smethwick

Ofsted's report card from its 10 February 2026 inspection grades St Matthew's CofE Primary School on 7 areas: 4 strong standard and 3 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Attendance is high across the school, with overall rates well above national figures and persistent absence notably low."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders and staff have an astute understanding of what pupils in their school need to learn."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Inclusion sits at the centre of the school's work."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders have set a clear vision for the school."

Achievement - Expected standard. "Across the school, pupils secure the essential knowledge and skills they need for the next stage of learning."

Early years - Expected standard. "Effective partnerships with parents and carers help children to begin school confidently."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Leaders have created a caring and respectful culture, where pupils take the school rules, ‘be safe, be ready, and be respectful', seriously."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, consistently secure the detailed knowledge they need across the curriculum"; "Leaders should make fuller use of the information they gather about pupils' engagement in enrichment activities to shape and enhance the offer so that it reflects pupils' interests and aspirations even more closely"; "Leaders and staff should ensure that in the early years, experiences build more closely on children's prior learning and that adults use rich, purposeful talk so all children benefit from frequent opportunities to develop their vocabulary".

From the headteacher's welcome: "Welcome to St Matthew's C of E Primary School. We are very proud of our school, which has served the local community for well over 100 years. Although we are housed over two sites, we pride ourselves on knowing our children."

In 2025, 75% of Year 6 pupils at St Matthew's CofE Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 80% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 76% and 75% in Sandwell and 77% and 75% across England.

Results fell from 83% in reading and 86% in maths in 2024.

For September 2026 entry, 61 families put St Matthew's CofE Primary School as their first choice and 101 named it as one of their preferences, for 60 places offered. That is slightly more first choices than places. 2 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state primary schools to St Matthew's CofE Primary School are Victoria Park Primary (0.2 miles, Good, 69% reading, 76% maths); St Philip's Catholic Primary School (0.3 miles, Good, 80% reading, 73% maths); Cape Primary School (0.3 miles, Good, 59% reading, 58% maths); and Shireland Hall Primary Academy (0.4 miles, Outstanding, 87% reading, 88% maths).

St Matthew's CofE Primary School's 2025 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

44 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about St Matthew's CofE Primary School (as of April 2026): 93% would recommend the school, 93% say their child is happy there and 33% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they are kept well informed about progress (93%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (33%).

37.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 68.7% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Asian (36%), Black (35%) and other ethnic groups (13%).

In 2026, 34 pupils (7.2%) received SEN support and 23 (4.9%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.

St Matthew's CofE Primary School had 29 teachers in 2026, one for every 14 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical primary school, at about one for every 20.

The nearest railway station is Smethwick Rolfe Street Rail Station, about 1060 metres away (roughly a 13-minute walk).

14 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St Matthew's School (adjacent), 20 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood St Matthew's CofE Primary School stands in is among the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 587 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, criminal damage and arson and vehicle crime. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Sandwell (306), as is usual near a town centre.

St Matthew's CofE Primary School recorded no suspensions or permanent exclusions in 2024/25.

The secondary schools closest to St Matthew's CofE Primary School are Shireland Collegiate Academy (0.6 miles), Windsor Olympus Academy (0.8 miles), George Dixon Academy (1 mile) and Holyhead School (1.1 miles).