Giffards Primary School

About Giffards Primary School

Giffards Primary School sits within the Thurrock local authority, where it ranks 8th out of 39 primary schools — comfortably inside the top 25% of its local peers. The three highest-scoring schools in the area are Quarry Hill Academy, Chadwell St Mary Primary School, and St Mary's Catholic Primary School, all of which sit ahead of Giffards on the local league table. With 409 pupils on roll against a capacity of 630, the school is not yet at full capacity, yet it remains a popular choice: for the 2025/26 admissions round, it received 116 applications for just 53 places, and 51 of those offers went to first-preference families. That oversubscription ratio of 2.19 tells you this is a school local parents actively want. The school is a mixed, non-denominational state primary for children aged 4 to 11, and it does not have a nursery or sixth form.

Academically, Giffards performs well above the Thurrock average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 79% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a local authority average of 67%. That puts the school in the top 25% nationally by this measure, ranking 1,773rd out of 13,686 primaries. Subject-level scores are strong too: 96% of pupils met the expected standard in maths, 91% in writing, and 81% in reading. At the higher standard, 19% achieved greater depth in maths, 26% in reading, and 25% in writing. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in March 2022, confirmed it remains Good overall, with leadership and management also rated Good. Notably, early years provision was judged Outstanding — a step up from its previous Good rating in 2017, and a clear improvement from the 2010 inspection where it scored 2 (Good) in that area.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a library, art studios, an ICT suite, a forest school, and playing fields. Sports provision covers rounders, athletics, football, netball, swimming, cricket and tennis, while clubs include gardening, choir and coding. SEND support is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 22% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a reasonably diverse intake. Giffards is a good fit for families in Thurrock who want a well-regarded local primary with strong core outcomes, a clear oversubscription pattern, and a wide range of SEND provision — particularly those who value the Outstanding-rated early years foundation stage.

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