Breadsall Hill Top Primary School

About Breadsall Hill Top Primary School

Breadsall Hill Top Primary School is a state primary in Derby that parents clearly want to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 103 applications for just 57 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.81. Of those, 51 families put it as their first preference, and all 51 were offered a spot. That level of demand suggests a strong local reputation, though the school does not publish a parent-view recommendation percentage to back that up further. Headteacher Ruth McNeil leads a mixed-gender school of 416 pupils, with capacity for 668, so there is room to grow. The school also offers nursery provision for children from age two, which may be a practical draw for local families with younger siblings. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, in 2021, rated the school Good across the board, including behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision. That is a significant turnaround from its previous inspection in 2017, when it was rated Inadequate overall.

Academically, the picture is more mixed. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 tests, 34% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is well below the Derby local authority average of 55%. The school ranks 54th out of 58 primary schools in Derby on this measure, putting it in the bottom 50 nationally. Individual subject scores tell a similar story: 53% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, 49% in maths, and 42% in writing. At the higher standard, just 2% achieved it in maths, 12% in reading, and none in writing or all three subjects combined. Average scaled scores were 99 in reading and 98 in maths, both slightly below the national benchmark of 100. The school does not publish progress scores for any subject, so it is hard to say how much value it adds relative to pupils’ starting points. Over half of pupils (51.9%) are eligible for free school meals, which is a high proportion and may partly explain the attainment gap.

The school offers a decent range of facilities and activities for a primary of its size. There is a sensory room, an ICT suite, art studios, an outdoor playground, and even a chapel on site. Sports include dance, gymnastics, swimming, tennis and cross country, while clubs cover drama, choir, coding and gardening. The SEND provision is broad, with support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, social and emotional mental health needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. That makes it a potentially good fit for families whose children need additional support. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Castleward Spencer Academy, three kilometres away. Breadsall Hill Top is not the highest-performing school in Derby academically, but its oversubscription suggests it is a popular choice for local families who value its inclusive approach and the turnaround under current leadership.

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