Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School

About Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School

Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School is a small state primary in East Suffolk, and its headline KS2 results sit noticeably below the local authority average. In the 2023/24 academic year, 50% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Suffolk LA average of 58%. That gap of eight percentage points places the school in the bottom half of primary schools in the area — it ranks 152nd out of 253 in the county. The school’s Progress 8 scores are not available in the data, so it is hard to say whether pupils are making typical gains from their starting points, but the raw attainment figures suggest that, on average, children here are not hitting the same benchmarks as their peers across Suffolk. The school is oversubscribed, however, with 25 applications for 10 places in 2025/26, which indicates strong local demand despite the middling headline numbers.

Digging into the KS2 breakdown, the picture is mixed. In reading, 50% of pupils met the expected standard and 30% reached the higher standard, with an average score of 100. Maths tells a similar story: 50% at expected, 10% at higher, and an average score of 100. Writing saw 50% at expected and 20% at higher. So while the proportion hitting the expected level is consistent across all three subjects, the higher-standard percentages vary — reading stands out as the strongest area. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in 2017, rated it Good overall, with leadership and management also judged Good. Its previous inspection in 2009 had rated early years provision as Requires Improvement, so the school has clearly improved since then. There is no more recent graded inspection, so parents will want to check whether the current Good rating still reflects the school’s day-to-day reality.

Benhall St Mary’s is a Church of England school with a strong set of facilities for its size, including a sensory room, forest school area, sports hall, music rooms and a chapel. It offers a wide range of sports — netball, swimming, cricket, tennis, football and more — plus clubs like coding, chess, gardening and film club. SEND provision covers dyslexia, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder, social and emotional mental health needs, and other difficulties. With 75 pupils on roll against a capacity of 105, there is some spare capacity, though the school is oversubscribed in practice. Nearly 39% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is well above the national average, so the school serves a relatively disadvantaged community. For families who value a small, church-affiliated primary with strong pastoral and SEND support, and who are less focused on top-tier academic outcomes, Benhall St Mary’s could be a good fit.

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