Bulphan Church of England Academy

About Bulphan Church of England Academy

Bulphan Church of England Academy is a small primary school in Thurrock, operating well below its capacity of 86 with just 59 pupils on roll. The school serves a community where 15.3% of children are eligible for free school meals, a figure that sits below the national average for primary schools. Despite its size, the school is clearly in demand: for the 2025/26 academic year, it received 25 applications for just 11 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.27. All 10 first-preference applicants were offered a place, suggesting that while the school is popular locally, families who put it first are likely to secure a spot. The school is a Church of England academy, and its headteacher is James Dickson. With a mixed intake of boys and girls aged 5 to 11, it offers a distinctly small-scale setting where each year group is likely to be very small, which can be a draw for families seeking a close-knit environment.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2024 rated it Good overall, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in January 2022. The inspection gave Outstanding marks for personal development, and Good for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and early years provision. However, the school’s Key Stage 2 results for 2023/24 tell a more mixed story. Just 18% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, well below the Thurrock local authority average of 67%. In individual subjects, 55% reached the expected standard in reading, 73% in writing, and 45% in maths. The school ranks bottom of the 39 primary schools in Thurrock on this combined measure, and in the bottom 1% nationally. Reading and maths average scores were 104 and 101 respectively, both slightly above the national average of 100, but the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard was low, particularly in maths at 9%.

The school offers a solid range of facilities for its size, including a library, outdoor playground, gymnasium, playing fields, forest school, music rooms and a chapel. Sports provision covers football, rounders, netball, cricket, swimming, cross country and gymnastics, and there are clubs for chess, gardening, choir and science. For children with additional needs, the school supports moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. Given its small roll and high oversubscription, families should be prepared to apply early and list it as a first preference. This school will particularly suit parents who value a small, village-style primary with a Christian character and strong personal development focus, but who are comfortable with academic outcomes that are significantly below the local average.

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