Bishop Sutton Primary School

About Bishop Sutton Primary School

Bishop Sutton Primary School is a state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 4 to 11, currently operating below its full capacity of 210 with 171 children on roll. The school sits in the Bath and North East Somerset local authority, where 9.9% of its pupils are eligible for free school meals — a figure that sits below the national average for primary schools and suggests a relatively affluent intake compared with many state schools nationally. Despite having room for more pupils, the school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 admissions cycle: it received 34 applications for 21 places, with 19 of those coming as first preferences. That gives an oversubscription ratio of 1.62, meaning for every place available, roughly 1.6 families wanted it. The school’s religious character is listed as “Does not apply,” so it is a community school without a faith-based admissions criteria. This combination of below-capacity numbers but strong local demand suggests a school that is popular within its immediate catchment but not yet stretched to its limits.

Academically, Bishop Sutton’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2024 rated it Good across all five categories: overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision. This is a step down from its previous Outstanding rating in 2012, but the school remains solidly within the top tier of local primaries. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 58% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — slightly below the Bath and North East Somerset local authority average of 62%. The school ranks 35th out of 52 primaries in the LA on this metric, placing it in the bottom half locally and the bottom 50% nationally. However, individual subject scores are stronger: 85% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, and 73% in maths, with average scaled scores of 107 and 105 respectively. Higher-attaining pupils are less common here — only 4% achieved the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined — so this is a school that serves a broad ability range rather than a selective cohort.

The school offers a practical set of facilities including a gymnasium, library, dining hall, ICT suite, sensory room and chapel, alongside a sports programme covering cricket, football, netball, tennis, rounders and swimming. Clubs include drama, film club and choir. For children with additional needs, the school lists specific SEND provisions for dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder, and other disabilities — a reasonably broad offer for a primary of this size. With 171 pupils and an oversubscription ratio of 1.62, families applying from outside the immediate catchment should be realistic about their chances, though the school is not yet at capacity. This is a good, solid local primary that suits families who value a broad curriculum and inclusive SEND support over high-stakes academic selectivity, and who are happy with a school that performs around the LA average rather than at the very top of the league tables.

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