Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

About Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

If you are a parent weighing up Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, the numbers suggest it is a popular choice locally. In the 2025/26 admissions round, the school received 68 applications for just 23 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.96. Of those 68 applicants, 20 put it as their first preference, and all 20 received an offer. That kind of demand usually reflects a strong reputation among local families, though it is worth noting that the school does not publish a parent-view survey percentage, so we cannot give you a direct recommendation score from current parents. The school is a state primary for mixed genders aged 5 to 11, with a Church of England character, and is led by headteacher Justine Brooks. It currently has 167 pupils on roll, slightly above its official capacity of 165, which again points to its draw in the Chelmsford area.

Academically, the picture is mixed but solid. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 60% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is just below the Essex local authority average of 62%, placing the school 28th out of 41 primary schools in the Chelmsford ranking. Nationally, it sits in the bottom half of all primaries, at the 57th percentile. However, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2022 rated it Good overall, with Good for leadership and management. That is a notable improvement from its previous graded inspection in 2012, when it was judged Requires improvement. The ungraded inspection in 2022 confirmed the school remains Good. In terms of individual subjects, maths scores were a relative strength: 76% of pupils met the expected standard in maths, and the average scaled score was 104, while reading and writing were lower at 68% and 64% respectively.

The school offers a decent range of facilities for its size, including a sports hall, gymnasium, ICT suite, music rooms, art studios, a sensory room, a chapel and a Forest School. Sports on offer include gymnastics, football, netball, cricket, rounders, swimming and cross country, and there are clubs for gardening, choir and science. For children with additional needs, the school lists SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. With an oversubscription ratio of nearly 3:1, getting a place is competitive, so it is a school that will particularly suit families who value a Church of England ethos, a broad set of extracurricular activities, and a setting where the headteacher has overseen a clear improvement journey from Requires improvement to Good.

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