The only school I know of with a reputation for coaching was not CofE. They had excellent results in Y6. They also had a distinct physical difference from our children. When schools turned up for interschool sports, their children looked as if they were a year older. Taller, more well-built, and faster. (They used to coach their swimming team in lesson time - I saw them one strike day at the pool.)

They were in the more expensive part of the town, with parents of the type Don describes.

They had more children getting to the grammar school and the girls' grammar school. (Gender distinction quirk the result of history, which the boys' school will not disown.)

BUT, feedback from said grammar school showed that our children were in the top of their classes, and their children were not.

Any school distinguished by differences in catchment is likely to show the same characteristics, and CofE schools are often selected in the same way as this school is. Whether they then coach I know not, or if the work displayed on the walls shows the same spookily similar handwriting and content.

Schools should not be compared without distinguishing the different sources of the children they serve. Differing outcomes may not be due to differences in teacher quality, or teaching styles, or faith. children don't arrive in Reception classes identically.

Penny