Ashurst Wood Primary School

About Ashurst Wood Primary School

Parents at Ashurst Wood Primary School are overwhelmingly positive about their experience, with 88% of respondents to the most recent Parent View survey saying they would recommend the school. The survey, which ran between September 2024 and September 2025 and gathered 51 responses, shows particularly strong satisfaction around children’s happiness and safety: every single parent agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and 96% felt their child is safe. Communication with families also scores well, with 92% of parents agreeing the school lets them know how their child is doing, and 94% saying they are made aware of what their child will learn. The school is clearly popular locally too. For the 2025/26 intake, it received 24 applications for just 10 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.4. All ten first-preference applicants were offered a place, but the numbers suggest that families who don’t put it top of their list may find it harder to get in.

Academically, Ashurst Wood has been on an upward trajectory. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in July 2025, the school was rated Good across all areas, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision. That’s a notable improvement from its previous graded inspection in March 2023, when it was rated Requires Improvement overall. At Key Stage 2, results from the 2023/24 academic year show that 30% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is below the West Sussex local authority average of 56%. However, individual subject scores are more encouraging: 65% met the expected standard in reading, 70% in writing, and 55% in maths. Average scaled scores were 103 in reading and 100 in maths. Nationally, the school ranks in the bottom 50% for its combined expected standard measure, sitting at the 97th percentile nationally.

The school offers a solid range of facilities for a primary of its size, including a sports hall, playing fields, art studios, music rooms, and a forest school. There is also a chapel on site. Sports provision covers football, cricket, swimming, cross country, rounders, tennis and netball, while clubs include drama, book club, eco club, coding, choir and chess. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists support for moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 114 pupils on roll against a capacity of 140, there is some spare capacity, though the oversubscription figures suggest demand is high. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is 13.2%, which is close to the national average for primary schools. This is a school that suits families who value strong pastoral care and communication, and who are happy to trade top-tier academic rankings for a community feel and a clear recent improvement story.

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