Bishop Loveday Church of England Primary School

About Bishop Loveday Church of England Primary School

Bishop Loveday Church of England Primary School sits within the Oxfordshire local authority, a large county with 242 primary schools. In the Cherwell district, it ranks 29th out of 45 schools, placing it in the bottom half of its immediate area. Nationally, it sits around the 60th percentile among all primary schools. The top-performing peers in the local authority — Hornton Primary School, Longworth Primary School, and Brightwell-Cum-Sotwell Church of England Primary School — all achieved perfect or near-perfect ranking scores, setting a high bar. For families prioritising an Outstanding Ofsted rating, the nearest such school is Longford Park Primary School, just 0.8 kilometres away. Bishop Loveday itself has held a Good rating since its most recent graded inspection in October 2021, a notable improvement from its previous inspection in 2016, when it was rated Requires Improvement across both leadership and overall effectiveness.

Academically, Bishop Loveday’s Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 academic year show a mixed picture. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined was 58%, slightly below the Oxfordshire local authority average of 61%. Reading was a relative strength, with 84% of pupils meeting the expected standard and an average scaled score of 106, while maths saw 67% at the expected level with an average score of 102. Higher-standard attainment was modest: just 4% achieved the higher benchmark across all three subjects, though 27% reached that level in reading alone. The school’s ranking score of 58, based on the combined expected standard metric, places it in the bottom 50% nationally. Progress measures for reading, writing, and maths were not available in the data, so it is unclear how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points.

The school is at full capacity with 420 pupils, and it is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 157 applications for 60 places, with 62 first-preference applications resulting in 60 offers — an oversubscription ratio of 2.62. Facilities include an ICT suite, music rooms, a sensory room, art studios, a chapel, and a dining hall. Sports provision covers tennis, athletics, rounders, netball, cross country, and football, while clubs include science, chess, and choir. SEND support is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language challenges, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a Church of England primary that has improved its Ofsted rating and now offers a stable, Good-rated environment, though its academic outcomes sit just below the local average. It will suit families who value a full-capacity, oversubscribed school with strong SEND provision and a clear religious character, but who are comfortable with its mid-ranking position among Cherwell primaries.

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