• St Mary's Hare Park is community rooted, values driven and academically purposeful, and aims to help children grow into confident, kind and well-prepared young learners.

• Will suit families seeking a smaller Catholic prep with strong values, close relationships and a notably confident record in 11+ and wider preparation.

Admissions at St Mary's Hare Park School should appeal to families who want a Catholic independent primary and nursery with an unusually strong sense of community and visible local outcomes. The school should suit parents who value a smaller Romford prep where children are expected to do well academically while being known, encouraged and grounded in clear values.

At prep level the scholarships story is seen chiefly through senior-school awards and successful transfer rather than large internal awards, though families should ask directly about any fee support. The stronger headline here is the school’s record of preparing children well for selective next steps.

The overall picture is warm, confident and distinctly community led, with strong satisfaction figures and impressive ISEB, 11+ and LAMDA statistics all helping to define the offer. Parents should still visit because the decisive question is whether the atmosphere feels as personal and supportive as the numbers suggest.

Assessment at St Mary's Hare Park School is clear, structured and strongly tied to readiness for senior transfer, with careful monitoring of reading, writing, maths and broader confidence in performance and communication. Parents should expect regular feedback and a school that takes 11+ preparation seriously without losing its community feel.