Bankside Primary School

About Bankside Primary School

Bankside Primary School sits at the very bottom of the Leeds primary school league table, ranked 202nd out of 204 schools in the local authority. Its headline academic metric tells a stark story: just 29% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at the end of Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year, compared with a local authority average of 61%. That gap of 32 percentage points is one of the widest in Leeds. The school’s ranking score of 29 places it firmly in the bottom 50 nationally, and within Yorkshire and the Humber it ranks 1476th out of 1506 primary schools. These figures make clear that, on academic outcomes alone, Bankside is an outlier in a negative direction. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in February 2025, judged its overall effectiveness as not judged (the school was inspected under the new framework), but the graded inspection gave it Requires Improvement for quality of education, leadership and management, early years provision and personal development. Behaviour and attitudes were rated Good.

Digging into the detail of the Key Stage 2 results, the picture is mixed by subject. In reading, 52% of pupils met the expected standard and 12% reached the higher standard, with an average scaled score of 100. In maths, 43% met the expected standard and 9% reached the higher standard, with an average score of 99. Writing was the weakest area: 43% met the expected standard and no pupil reached the higher standard. No progress scores are available for any subject, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. The school’s Ofsted report from 2011, when it was last fully inspected, rated it Good overall, with Good leadership and management and Outstanding early years provision. The 2025 inspection found early years provision had slipped to Requires Improvement. Parent View responses, collected between September 2024 and September 2025 from 25 respondents, show strong satisfaction: 100% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and 96% felt their child is safe. 88% would recommend the school to other parents.

Bankside is a large primary school with capacity for 744 pupils and currently has 698 on roll, including nursery provision for children aged two. It is oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 academic year, there were 132 applications for 55 places, a ratio of 2.4 applicants per place, and all 55 first-preference applicants were offered a place. The school serves a community with 32.5% of pupils eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. Its SEND provision is broad, covering specific learning difficulties, moderate to severe learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. Facilities include a forest school, gymnasium, music rooms, art studios and a chapel. Clubs on offer include coding, art, book club and chess, and sports include netball, rounders, dance and football. The nearest outstanding-rated school is Hillcrest Academy, just 0.3 km away. For families weighing up their options, Bankside offers strong pastoral care and parent satisfaction, but the academic results are a significant concern that would need careful investigation.

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