State Primaries in Chelsea, Pimlico, Belgravia

[blueberrymatcha]

Hello all,

my DS will be starting reception in September 2026. I’ve shortlisted a few state primaries that we “qualify” for - in terms of catchment area, less so for faith (husband is Catholic but we do attend an Anglican Church although not regularly).

First choice: Marlborough Primary (Draycott Avenue, Chelsea)

Second choice: St Peter’s CoE Eaton Square (Belgravia)

Third choice: Pimlico Primary (Pimlico)

Fourth choice: St Gabriel’s CoE (Pimlico)

I did consider Christchurch in Chelsea but I know I haven’t a chance (ridiculously oversubscribed plus we are just outside the catchment area) and Holy Trinity (also in Chelsea) but not terribly impressed by academic performance.

My criteria are student diversity (me and my husband are 1st generation immigrants, our DS is mixed-race), great co-curricular activities (my DS’ interests are chess, sports, and drama - or at least, he’s very theatrical and loves putting on a show), and positive work ethic. For those reasons Marlborough Primary seems like the ideal fit.

We’ve got some reception tours coming up which I’m looking forward to.

Any mums here have any insights or experiences with these schools, please do share - any input is much appreciated!

Thank you in advance x

Bumping for visibility.

I checked out all of those schools and settled on Marlborough form our two DC. They've left now as we moved house but I really rate the school.

The facilities are excellent as the building is only 8 years old and it's won architecture awards for its design, keeping loads of outdoor space on each level.
My eldest was there when the previous, long-standing head teacher retired and it had a few unsettled years but the new exec-head, who is also exec-head of another school, has really settled the school down. It's just getting better and better. My DH was also a governor for a few years and has that perspective and again really likes the school.

It's definitely diverse too. I remember about half of my DC's class were odd for Eid one year. There's families from all over there.

Only downside is that there is a relatively high turnover of pupils soy eldest found is friends kept leaving. But it's a lovely school otherwise.

Forgot to address the extra curricular but again all of that was expanding when we left. My DC started karate there, eldest played football. The school also had a truly wonderful music teacher.

@Fitzcarraldo353 thank you for sharing, this is very positive to hear re: governance, facilities, teachers, and diversity.

I hope your DC are happy with their new, current school.