E-Act Fairlawn Primary School

About E-Act Fairlawn Primary School

E-Act Fairlawn Primary School is clearly a popular choice among local families. In the 2025/26 admissions round, the school received 86 applications for just 27 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.19. Of those 86 applicants, 22 put Fairlawn as their first preference, and all 22 were offered a place. That level of demand suggests parents in the area see real value here. The school is led by headteacher Siobhan Lennox-Brown and currently has 229 pupils on roll, well below its capacity of 420. It’s a mixed, non-religious state primary for children aged 4 to 11, and its most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in October 2023, confirmed the school remains Good — the same rating it received at its previous graded inspection in 2018.

Academically, Fairlawn’s results paint a mixed picture. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 tests, 56% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — slightly below the Bristol local authority average of 58%. The school ranks 48th out of 85 primary schools in the city on this measure, placing it in the bottom half locally. However, individual subject scores are stronger: 80% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, and 76% did so in maths. Higher-attaining pupils are less common here — just 10% achieved the higher standard across all three subjects — though reading stands out with 37% reaching the higher threshold. The school’s Progress 8 scores are not available, so it’s hard to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points.

Fairlawn offers a solid range of facilities including a library, sports hall, music rooms, playing fields and a forest school area. There’s a good selection of clubs — choir, drama, gardening and art club — and sports provision covers gymnastics, tennis, dance, athletics, netball and swimming. The school also lists SEND support for a wide range of needs, including dyslexia, speech and language difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder and social, emotional and mental health challenges. With 22.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a fairly diverse catchment. It’s not the highest-performing primary in Bristol — the nearest Outstanding-rated school is Bishop Road Primary, 1.4 km away — but for families who value a Good-rated, oversubscribed school with strong reading outcomes and a broad extracurricular offer, Fairlawn is clearly a sought-after option.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About E-Act Fairlawn Primary School

Helpful Guides for Parents