Alder Tree Primary Academy

About Alder Tree Primary Academy

Alder Tree Primary Academy sits within the Leeds local authority, a large urban area with 221 primary schools. In the most recent rankings based on the percentage of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2, the school placed 98th out of 204 schools in Leeds, putting it in the top half of the authority. Its top-performing local peers include Harewood Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Shadwell Primary School and St Philip's Catholic Primary School, all of which scored higher on the same metric. The nearest school rated Outstanding by Ofsted is Manor Wood Primary School, 1.3 kilometres away. Alder Tree itself was rated Good in its most recent graded inspection in November 2023, a significant improvement from its previous inspection in 2019 when it was judged Inadequate overall. The school is led by headteacher Kate Burton and serves 306 pupils aged 3 to 11, with a capacity of 420 places.

At Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year, 64 per cent of pupils at Alder Tree met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, just above the Leeds local authority average of 61 per cent. Reading and writing both saw 73 per cent of pupils reach the expected level, while maths was slightly lower at 70 per cent. At the higher standard, 7 per cent of pupils achieved the combined benchmark, with 20 per cent reaching the higher standard in reading, 16 per cent in maths and 9 per cent in writing. Average scaled scores were 104 in reading and 103 in maths, both in line with national expectations. The school’s Ofsted report from November 2023 awarded Good across all five inspected categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This marks a clear turnaround from the previous inspection, where leadership and management and overall effectiveness were both rated Inadequate.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a library, music rooms, a sensory room, a gymnasium, sports hall, playing fields and a forest school. Sports on offer include cricket, gymnastics, netball, rounders, cross country and football, while clubs range from choir and chess to coding, gardening and eco club. Alder Tree provides nursery provision for younger children and has a wide array of SEND support, covering moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, visual impairment, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 61 applications were received for 25 places, with 18 first-preference offers made. This suggests strong local demand, and families considering the school should be aware of the competitive admissions picture. Alder Tree suits families looking for a Good-rated primary with strong SEND provision and a wide extracurricular offer in a city setting.

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