Bardfield Academy

About Bardfield Academy

Bardfield Academy is a state primary school in Basildon, Essex, that is currently running well above its official capacity. With 455 pupils on roll against a capacity of 420, the school is clearly a popular choice for local families, and this is reflected in its oversubscribed admissions for the 2025/26 intake. The school received 59 total applications for just 38 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.55, and all 34 first-preference applicants were offered a place. The pupil body is notably diverse in terms of disadvantage: 50.6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is significantly higher than the national average and suggests the school serves a community with considerable socioeconomic need. The school also offers nursery provision for children from age two, and its mixed-gender, non-religious character means it draws from a broad cross-section of the local area.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2024 rated it as Requires Improvement overall, a downgrade from its previous Good rating in 2013. The inspection found that quality of education and leadership and management both require improvement, while early years provision, personal development, and behaviour and attitudes were all rated Good. At Key Stage 2, just 40% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared to the local authority average of 62%. This places the school 35th out of 39 primary schools in the Basildon local authority ranking, and in the bottom 50% nationally. Individual subject scores show reading as the strongest area, with 62% reaching the expected standard and an average score of 103, while maths and writing were weaker, with only 55% and 52% reaching the expected standard respectively. No pupils achieved the higher standard in all three subjects.

The school offers a wide range of facilities including a gymnasium, sports hall, playing fields, library, ICT suite, sensory room, and a forest school, as well as a chapel. Sports provision includes gymnastics, swimming, tennis and netball, and there are clubs for choir, science, drama, eco and book club. The school has a strong SEND offer, with provisions for specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication, hearing and multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families considering Bardfield Academy, the data suggests a school that is heavily oversubscribed and serving a high-needs community, but where academic outcomes are currently below the local average and the school is working to address an Ofsted Requires Improvement rating. The nearest Outstanding-rated alternative is Lee Chapel Primary School, 2.8 km away.

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