Badsley Primary School

About Badsley Primary School

Badsley Primary School in Rotherham is a state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 4 to 11, currently educating 540 children against a capacity of 630. That leaves some physical room, but the school is clearly in demand: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 73 applications for 56 places, with all 56 first-preference offers taken up, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.3. The pupil body is notably diverse in terms of disadvantage, with 59.1% of pupils eligible for free school meals — well above the national average and a strong signal of the community it serves. The school is led by headteacher Mark Windle and has no religious character. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, in January 2025, judged the school as 'Requires improvement' overall, though inspectors rated behaviour and attitudes, personal development, early years provision, and leadership and management all as 'Good'. This was a downgrade from its previous 'Good' rating in 2019, driven by a 'Requires improvement' grade for quality of education.

Academically, the school's Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 academic year place it in the bottom half nationally and within Rotherham. Just 47% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared to the local authority average of 60%. Only 1% reached the higher standard in that combined measure. Looking at individual subjects, 59% met the expected standard in reading, 61% in writing, and 62% in maths. Average scaled scores were 102 in reading and 101 in maths. The school ranks 68th out of 84 primary schools in Rotherham on this metric, placing it in the 81st percentile locally and the 83rd percentile nationally. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it's hard to say how much value the school adds relative to starting points, but the raw attainment figures are clearly below the LA norm.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a sensory room, sports hall, forest school, art studios, and an ICT suite, plus a chapel. Sports provision covers cricket, football, swimming, netball, rounders and dance, and there are clubs for art, drama and eco activities. SEND support is extensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent View responses from 31 respondents in the 2024/25 period show 74% would recommend the school, though responses on specific questions are mixed — for example, 65% strongly agreed their child does well, but only 50% strongly agreed that SEND children get the support they need. This is a school that suits families in the local area who value its inclusive, well-resourced environment and are comfortable with a school in a period of transition following its recent Ofsted downgrade.

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