Holy Ghost Primary School, Balham

[SWMommy]

Hi All!

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone with recent experience of the Holy Ghost Primary School in Balham. We have a 3 year old and are looking at entry for September 2026.

We had heard lots of great things about the school. However, I have noticed that over the last couple of years, the leaving cohort is around 1/3 smaller than the entry form (30 kids start each year and only about 20 have made it through to age 11). This has made me worried that there is an issue at the school that is causing parents to withdraw their children.

If anybody has any experiences (good or bad!) that they would be willing to share, that would be hugely helpful!

Thanks so much!

Balham and the surrounding areas have seen a decline in birth rates. There are just more spaces than children at the moment. The school nearby Ravensbourne has had to reduce classes in some year groups. Goldfinch primary has announced closures.

There are some schools with no issues as they are very sought after which means they have full classes in reception but higher up the school there may be vacancies as families leave the area.

The best thing to do is go to the open days and ask the senior management about the impact of falling roll numbers and if the school is at risk of closure - if it is then probably an idea to look at different schools!

The cohorts who left recently are the ones which will have had lots of kids whose families left London during Covid or thanks to wfh. That’s been a massive cause of falling school rolls across London, especially SE London.

It’s a great school. Numbers are to do with falling numbers in London. There may also be a small number who leave to go to private school in Year 3 or 5. You’ll need to show you are a practising Catholic to have a good chance of a place, although non Catholic children are also getting places, again because of the reduced number of children. The most important thing is to go and look and see if you get a good feeling about it.

It's a lovely school . Some kids do the 10+ to avoid the pressure of the 11+, and leave at the end of Y5 for independent schools like Whitgift/Emanuel/Trinity etc. There are also lots of French children at the school, who tend to leave in Y5 for the Lycee. The fact that it's still oversubscribed in the younger years shows how popular it is - loads of schools in the area are really suffering because they can't fill places.