Kennington's schools are strong, and the primaries carry most of the case. The village has its own Church of England primary. The local primary results come in above the expected standard. Across the county, nearly nine in ten graded schools are good or better. Secondary school means a bus out of the village, and that's where the planning starts.
St Swithun's Church of England Primary is the village school. It is one of two mainstream state primaries around here, and together they averaged a Key Stage 2 maths score of about 107. The scale is set so that 100 marks the expected standard, which puts these primaries above it. The Department for Transport's 2019 model puts a primary about 12 minutes' walk from the typical Kennington home. Radley Church of England Primary and New Hinksey Church of England Primary are also among the primaries in the wider area.
Across Oxfordshire, Ofsted has graded 108 of 121 inspected schools as good or better, which is close to nine in every ten. Eleven of those were rated outstanding, while 10 were judged to require improvement and 3 inadequate. Another 151 settings in the county have no published overall grade yet. None of that is a judgement on any one Kennington classroom, because it's a county count, and Oxfordshire is a big county with a lot of classrooms.
Secondary school is where the walk ends. The village's catchment secondary is outside Kennington, and a bus service takes pupils there. The 2019 transport model puts a secondary about 29 minutes away by public transport and around 46 minutes on foot. Oxfordshire County Council hands out places by its published admissions rules, so buying near a school doesn't get you a place, whatever the brochure says. Ask the council which secondary a particular address falls under, and whether the school bus covers that street. A child who walked to primary in a quarter of an hour will be eleven years old and an expert on bus timetables by October.
Further out, the secondary options in the area include Fitzharrys School, Larkmead School and John Mason School. Chandlings Prep, an independent co-educational prep school, is nearby, and the surrounding area also has Radley College, Abingdon School and St Helen and St Katharine. The school run around Kennington tends to split by blazer colour well before the morning rush.
Schools are one of Kennington's real strengths. The village primary is a short walk away and above the expected standard. The secondary needs a bus and a bit of homework from the parents, but most families get a sound school at the end of it.