Drake Primary School

About Drake Primary School

Drake Primary School sits within the Norfolk local authority, a large county with 344 primary schools, and is one of 43 primaries in the Breckland district. In the most recent local rankings, it placed 18th out of those 43, putting it just above the middle of the pack. The top-performing peers in the area, based on their ranking scores, are Surlingham Primary School, Ditchingham Church of England Primary Academy, and Ashleigh Primary School and Nursery in Wymondham. Drake is a mixed, non-religious state primary for children aged 4 to 11, with 411 pupils on roll against a capacity of 420. The school is led by headteacher Louise Clements McLeod and has a relatively low proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 11.4 per cent. It is not a boarding school, does not have a nursery or sixth form, and its most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in November 2021, rated the school Good overall, a step down from its previous Outstanding rating in 2013.

Academically, Drake’s Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 year show a mixed picture. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined was 53 per cent, which sits just above the Norfolk local authority average of 52 per cent. However, the school’s ranking on this metric places it in the bottom 50 per cent nationally, at the 72.7th percentile. Breaking the figures down, 67 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in reading, 78 per cent in writing, and 60 per cent in maths. At the higher standard, the percentages were lower: 23 per cent in reading, 7 per cent in writing, and 17 per cent in maths, with only 5 per cent reaching the higher threshold across all three subjects. Average scaled scores were 104 in reading and 102 in maths. Ofsted’s graded inspection rated all key areas as Good, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision.

The school offers a range of facilities including a sensory room, music rooms, an ICT suite, a dining hall, a sports hall, and a chapel. Sports provision includes rounders, athletics, gymnastics, and swimming, while extracurricular clubs cover drama, chess, eco club, and coding. For families with children who have special educational needs, Drake provides support for a wide spectrum of needs, including specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. It also has a resourced provision. Admissions data for 2025/26 shows the school is oversubscribed: there were 112 total applications for 58 places, with 55 first-preference applications resulting in 52 offers. The oversubscription ratio of 1.93 means competition for places is moderate. This is a solid, well-regarded local primary that suits families seeking a broad range of SEND support and a good range of facilities within the Breckland area.

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