Copthorne Community Infant School

About Copthorne Community Infant School

Copthorne Community Infant School holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained consistently across its two most recent inspections. The most recent graded inspection took place in 2013, and an ungraded inspection in 2022 confirmed the school remains Good. The inspection report highlighted strong leadership and management, also rated Good, and noted that early years provision, which was previously graded as Requires Improvement in 2008, had improved. With just 97 pupils on roll against a capacity of 120, the school is a small, close-knit setting for children aged 5 to 7. The most telling academic metric for a school this size is its oversubscription data: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 60 applications for 22 places, all 22 of which went to first-preference families. That works out at 2.73 applications for every place, a clear signal of local demand and confidence in what the school offers.

Because Copthorne is an infant school, it does not publish Key Stage 2 SATs results or a Progress 8 score, as those measures apply to junior and secondary phases. The local authority average for Key Stage 2 attainment across Derbyshire primary schools sits at 59 per cent, but this figure is not directly comparable to an infant-only setting. What the Ofsted data does tell us is that the school’s leadership and management have been judged Good, and that the quality of education, while not given a separate label in the most recent inspection, is part of the overall Good rating. The school serves a community with a high level of disadvantage: 51.5 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. Despite this, the school has held its Good rating, suggesting it is effectively supporting its pupils in the early years of their education.

The school offers a broad range of facilities for such a small setting, including a sports hall, gymnasium, forest school, ICT suite, sensory room, and library. Sports on offer include dance, swimming, football, cross country, and cricket, while clubs extend to book club, coding, gardening, and chess. The school also has a chapel on site. For children with additional needs, the school lists provisions for specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. With no nursery provision and no sixth form, the school is purely focused on the infant years. Given its oversubscription rate, families living closest to the school will need to apply early. This is a school that suits parents looking for a small, community-focused infant setting with strong local reputation and a clear commitment to supporting pupils from a wide range of backgrounds.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About Copthorne Community Infant School

Helpful Guides for Parents