Abbotsweld Primary Academy

About Abbotsweld Primary Academy

Abbotsweld Primary Academy sits within the Essex local authority, a mixed state primary for children aged 5 to 11 in Harlow. In the most recent local rankings for key stage 2 outcomes, it placed 7th out of 28 schools in Harlow, placing it in the top 25% of its immediate area. Across the wider Essex primary landscape, it ranks 95th out of 444 schools of the same type. The top-performing peers in the county include St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School, Colchester, Stambridge Primary School, and Great Totham Primary School, each scoring at or near the top of the ranking metric. The nearest school rated Outstanding by Ofsted is Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery, just 1.3 kilometres away. Abbotsweld itself holds a Good rating from its most recent graded inspection in 2017, and an ungraded inspection in 2023 confirmed the school remains Good. Leadership and management were judged Outstanding in that 2017 inspection, while early years provision was rated Good.

Academically, Abbotsweld performs well above the local average. In the 2023/24 key stage 2 assessments, 73% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined, compared with an Essex local authority average of 62%. The school's ranking score of 73 places it in the top 25% nationally among all primary schools. In individual subjects, 80% met the expected standard in reading, 82% in writing, and 82% in maths. Higher-standard attainment was strongest in maths, where 27% of pupils scored at the higher level, and in reading at 29%, while writing at 11% and the combined higher measure at 7% were lower. Average scaled scores were 106 in both reading and maths. The school does not publish progress scores for these subjects. In its previous Ofsted inspection in 2014, the school was rated Requires Improvement overall, so the improvement to Good and the Outstanding leadership judgement represent a clear upward trajectory.

The school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, with 80 applications for 43 places and 39 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.86. Facilities include a forest school, music rooms, art studios, a sports hall, playing fields, and a chapel. Sports offered include gymnastics, swimming, cricket, dance, rounders, and tennis, and clubs include chess, film club, science club, and book club. The school has a range of SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 31.5% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively disadvantaged catchment. It has no nursery or sixth form provision and is not a boarding school. This is a solid, improving primary that suits families looking for strong academic outcomes in a well-led school with good facilities and a clear focus on SEND support.

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