Holymead Primary School

About Holymead Primary School

Holymead Primary School sits within the Bristol, City of local authority, a large primary landscape of 101 schools where only nine hold an Outstanding rating from Ofsted. Among its peers in the authority, Holymead ranks 38th out of 85 schools measured on the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at key stage 2. That places it just inside the bottom half of Bristol primaries, though it is worth noting that the three top-performing local schools — Summerhill Academy, Westbury Park School, and Ss Peter and Paul RC Primary School — all score considerably higher on the same metric. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is Oasis Academy Marksbury Road, about 2.9 kilometres away. Holymead itself has been rated Good by Ofsted across its two most recent inspections, the most recent being an ungraded visit in September 2023 which confirmed the school 'remains Good'. Leadership and management were also judged Good at the last graded inspection in 2014.

Academically, Holymead's key stage 2 results for the 2023/24 academic year show 60 per cent of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is slightly above the Bristol local authority average of 58 per cent, though it places the school in the bottom 50 nationally on this measure. In individual subjects, 71 per cent met expectations in reading and maths, and 74 per cent in writing. At the higher standard, 8 per cent achieved the higher benchmark across all three subjects, with 28 per cent reaching that level in reading, 22 per cent in maths, and 14 per cent in writing. Average scaled scores were 104 in both reading and maths, which is in line with the national average of 100. The school does not publish progress scores for any of the three subjects, so it is not possible to say how much value Holymead adds relative to pupils' starting points. Ofsted's previous graded inspection in 2014 rated early years provision as Good, though no separate grade was given for that area in the most recent ungraded visit.

Holymead is a large primary school with 602 pupils on roll against a capacity of 630, and it is clearly popular with local families. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 172 applications for 80 places, making it oversubscribed with a ratio of 2.15 applicants per place. Of those, 76 were first-preference applications, and all 76 received offers. The school has a below-average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 14 per cent. Facilities include a sports hall, gymnasium, playing fields, an ICT suite, a sensory room, and even a chapel. Sports on offer include gymnastics, swimming, athletics, netball, rounders, cross country and football, while clubs range from gardening and film club to eco club. The school's SEND provisions cover a broad spectrum, including support for autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language communication needs, social and emotional mental health difficulties, dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, hearing impairment and physical disability. This is a solid, well-subscribed local primary that performs around the LA average and offers a wide range of facilities and support.

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