Francis Baily Primary School

About Francis Baily Primary School

Francis Baily Primary School in West Berkshire is a mixed state primary for children aged 4 to 11, currently home to 533 pupils against a capacity of 567. That leaves a small amount of headroom, but the school is clearly in demand: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 83 applications for 48 places, with 47 first-preference offers made. That oversubscription ratio of 1.73 tells you this is a school local families are actively choosing. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals sits at 17.8%, which is worth noting against the national primary average of around 23% — so the intake is slightly less disadvantaged than the national picture, though still a meaningful minority. The school has no religious character and no nursery or sixth form provision, so it’s a straightforward primary option. Headteacher Elizabeth Hobbs leads a school that, based on the numbers, is popular but not bursting at the seams.

Academically, the picture is mixed. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in November 2023, the school was rated Requires Improvement overall, a downgrade from its previous Good rating in 2016. The inspection found that the quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision all require improvement, while behaviour and attitudes and personal development were judged Good. At Key Stage 2 in 2023/24, 41% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — well below the West Berkshire local authority average of 57%. Only 1% reached the higher standard in that combined measure. Individual subject scores were more encouraging: average reading and maths scores were 103 and 102 respectively, and 64% met the expected standard in maths. The school ranks 49th out of 57 primaries in West Berkshire, placing it in the bottom half locally and the bottom 10% nationally.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a sports hall, library, art studios, a sensory room, and playing fields. Sports provision covers gymnastics, athletics, dance, football, tennis, swimming and rounders, and there are clubs for gardening, drama, chess, coding and film. SEND support is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. This makes it a potentially good fit for families whose children need additional support within a mainstream setting. The oversubscription data suggests that getting a place is competitive but not impossible — 47 first-preference families were offered places out of 48 total. For parents weighing up options, this is a school with strong pastoral and behavioural ratings but clear academic challenges that the leadership team is working to address.

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