Gentleshaw Primary Academy

About Gentleshaw Primary Academy

Gentleshaw Primary Academy is a school that parents clearly want to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 62 applications for just 30 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.07. Of those, 37 families put it down as their first preference, and 29 of them were successful. That level of demand suggests a strong local reputation, and it's worth noting that the school has grown significantly beyond its original capacity — it currently has 206 pupils on roll against a stated capacity of 140. The school is a mixed, state primary for ages 3 to 11, with nursery provision on site, and sits in the Lichfield borough of Staffordshire. It has no religious character and is led by headteacher Jaswinder Kaur Ashan. Just over 5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is below the national average.

Academically, the school's most recent Ofsted inspection in September 2021 rated it Good across all five categories: overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision. That's a significant turnaround from its previous inspection in 2016, which rated it Inadequate overall. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 62% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — just below the local authority average of 65%. However, individual subject scores were stronger: 88% reached the expected standard in maths, with an average scaled score of 106, while 81% did so in writing and 69% in reading. Higher-standard attainment was more modest, with 15% reaching the higher bar in maths and 4% across all three subjects. Nationally, the school sits around the 51st percentile for combined RWM expected standard, and within the Lichfield local authority it ranks 24th out of 34 primary schools.

The school offers a solid range of facilities for its size, including a library, ICT suite, sensory room, music rooms, gymnasium, sports hall and a forest school area. Sports on offer include tennis, netball, cross country and swimming, while extracurricular clubs cover book club, gardening, drama, choir, coding and eco club. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists SEND provisions for moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment, autistic spectrum disorder and other difficulties. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary school is Fulfen Primary School, 3.1 km away. Gentleshaw is a good fit for families who want a well-subscribed local primary with a broad range of clubs and a strong focus on inclusion, and who are comfortable with a school that is currently teaching well above its official capacity.

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