Hempland Primary School

About Hempland Primary School

If you’re looking for a school where parents are overwhelmingly positive, Hempland Primary School in York makes a strong impression. In the most recent Parent View survey, covering responses from September 2024 to September 2025, every single parent who responded said they would recommend the school. That’s a 100% recommend rate from 21 respondents. The school is also heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 124 applications for 60 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.07. Of those, 65 families put Hempland as their first preference, and 59 first-preference offers were made. Parents report very high levels of satisfaction on specific questions too — 71% strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school and feels safe, and the same proportion strongly agreed that their child does well. No parent disagreed with any of those statements.

Academically, Hempland performs well above the local average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 81% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a York local authority average of 62%. That puts the school 4th out of 47 primary schools in the local authority, placing it in the top 9% nationally. A quarter of pupils achieved the higher standard in all three subjects. In individual subjects, 93% met the expected standard in maths, 85% in reading and 90% in writing. Average scaled scores were 109 in both reading and maths. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in October 2021, rated it Good overall and in every category, including behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision. Its previous inspection, back in 2006, had rated it Outstanding, so the current Good rating reflects a change in the inspection framework rather than a drop in standards.

Hempland is a state primary school for mixed genders aged 4 to 11, with no nursery or sixth form. It has a capacity of 420 pupils and currently has 422 on roll, so it is effectively full. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is low at 6.9%. The school offers a range of facilities including a library, sports hall, dining hall, music rooms, gymnasium and chapel. Sports on offer include swimming, cross country, athletics, netball, tennis and cricket, and there are clubs such as chess, choir, science club, film club and drama. For SEND, the school supports children with specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, hearing impairment, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that clearly appeals to local families, and the combination of strong academic results and very high parent satisfaction makes it a popular choice in York.

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