Average, in the literal arithmetical sense. Out of thirty-nine graded schools in the wider catchment, sixteen rate Good or better and one rates Outstanding. Seven require improvement. None are graded Inadequate. The state of education here is neither a disaster nor a sales pitch.
The inspections break roughly into thirds. About four in ten of the graded schools sit at Good or above, including the single Outstanding. Around one in five sit at Requires Improvement. The rest land somewhere in between. That's a thinner population of strong schools than a south-coast town with this much Victorian housing might attract attention for, but it's also not the catastrophe a casual scroll of the inspection register might suggest. The Island Free School handles secondary for much of the area. St Catherine's School and College serves children with specific educational needs, which is a different category on the register and shouldn't be lumped in with the mainstream picture. The primaries spread across the surrounding villages: Godshill Primary School, Niton Primary School, St Francis Catholic and Church of England Primary Academy, and Wroxall Primary School. Most are small. Rural schools always are.
Naming a school in this answer doesn't mean a child gets to attend it. Schools fill, year groups fill, and the rules around catchment, distance and oversubscription vary by school and shift year to year. A house bought to be near a particular primary is a house bought without a guarantee. Parents who arrange the move first and check the admissions policy second are the parents who find out in March that the policy was working as designed and they read it wrong.
The whole island reorganised in 2011 from a three-tier system to two-tier. Middle schools went. Children move up to secondary at eleven, in line with the mainland. Some buildings that used to be middle schools no longer are. Three primaries in the immediate area have closed in recent years. A town with this median age and these family numbers doesn't generate enough five-year-olds to keep small rural schools open. The library, founded as the Ventnor and Bonchurch Literary and Scientific Institution in 1848, still functions, which says something about the town's relationship with education and something about which generation does the reading.
For families willing to commute, or to choose carefully, there are workable schools within reach. For families expecting walk-to-the-gate convenience and a brochure-quality choice, the picture is thinner than they'd want. The single Outstanding pulls some weight in the averages. The seven Requires Improvement pull weight in the other direction.
A working average rather than a destination one. The schools here are the schools of a small, ageing, rural island, and they read like it.