Elmwood Primary School

About Elmwood Primary School

Elmwood Primary School sits within the Essex local authority, a large county with 444 primary schools where just 33 hold an Outstanding rating from Ofsted. In the Chelmsford area specifically, the school ranks 22nd out of 41 primaries, placing it in the top half locally. Its closest peers at the top of the Chelmsford table include St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School in Colchester and Stambridge Primary School, both of which achieved perfect ranking scores, alongside Great Totham Primary School. Elmwood’s own ranking score of 64 puts it in the top 50 nationally by its metric, though it sits around the middle of the pack when compared with all primaries in the East of England region. The school is led by headteacher Nerys Maidment and caters for 417 pupils aged 4 to 11, operating very close to its capacity of 420. It is a mixed, non-religious state primary with no nursery or sixth form provision.

Academically, Elmwood’s most recent Key Stage 2 results from the 2023/24 year show that 64% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. This is slightly above the Essex local authority average of 62%. In individual subjects, 77% reached the expected standard in maths and writing, while 74% did so in reading. Higher standard attainment was more modest, with 21% achieving the higher level in reading, 11% in writing and just 5% in maths. Average scaled scores were 105 in reading and 104 in maths. The school’s most recent graded Ofsted inspection, carried out in February 2014, rated it Good overall, with Good for leadership and management. An ungraded inspection in November 2023 confirmed the school remains Good, a notable improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2012. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it is not possible to assess how much value the school adds beyond raw attainment.

Elmwood is a popular choice locally, with 120 applications for 60 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, making it oversubscribed by a ratio of 2:1. Of those, 64 were first-preference applications, and all 60 places were offered to first-preference families. The school provides a range of facilities including an outdoor playground, playing fields, a library and a dining hall. Sports on offer include swimming, cricket, gymnastics, dance, athletics, tennis and cross country, while clubs extend to art, book club and choir. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, visual impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. This combination of solid but not exceptional results, strong local demand and a broad extracurricular offer makes Elmwood a sensible, well-regarded option for Chelmsford families seeking a mainstream state primary with a Good Ofsted rating.

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