Howes Community Primary School

About Howes Community Primary School

Howes Community Primary School sits below the Coventry average for primary schools on the key measure of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2. The school’s figure of 54% compares with a local authority average of 58%, placing it 57th out of 85 similar schools in Coventry. This gap is modest but consistent across the individual subjects: 73% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, 69% in writing and 65% in maths, each slightly behind the typical Coventry primary. The school’s ranking in the bottom half of the West Midlands region and the bottom 30% nationally reinforces this picture of a school that is broadly in line with local averages but not yet matching them. However, the picture is not uniformly below par — the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard in maths (19%) and reading (15%) suggests some strong individual performances, even if the combined higher standard figure of 4% is very low.

The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in April 2024 rated overall effectiveness as Requires Improvement, a downgrade from its previous Good rating in 2018. The inspection report noted that while leadership and management, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision were all judged Good, the quality of education was the area requiring improvement. This suggests the school has solid foundations in pastoral care and pupil behaviour but needs to sharpen its academic delivery. Progress scores for reading, writing and maths are not available in the data, so it is difficult to assess how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. The 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results show a mixed picture: reading and maths average scores of 105 and 103 respectively are close to the national average of 100, but the combined expected standard figure of 54% leaves room for improvement.

Howes Community Primary is a small school with 182 pupils against a capacity of 180, and it is oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake there were 46 applications for 24 places, with 22 first-preference offers made. This suggests strong local demand despite the Requires Improvement rating. The school offers a nursery provision and a wide range of facilities including playing fields, a forest school, an ICT suite, a library and art studios. Sports include tennis, athletics, cross country and rounders, and clubs cover eco, drama and film. The SEND provision is notably comprehensive, covering moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health, speech and language, hearing impairment, autistic spectrum disorder and a resourced provision. This makes the school a potentially strong fit for families whose children have identified additional needs, particularly given the Good rating for personal development and behaviour. The nearest outstanding-rated primary is Sidney Stringer Primary Academy, 3.2 km away, which may be an alternative for families prioritising academic outcomes.

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