Huxley CofE Primary School

About Huxley CofE Primary School

Huxley CofE Primary School is a small Church of England primary in Cheshire West and Chester, a local authority that includes 128 primary schools. It sits well outside the top tier of its local peers: the highest-ranked nearby schools include Bishop Wilson Church of England Primary School, Delamere CofE Primary Academy, and Childer Thornton Primary School, all of which score 90 or above on the local ranking measure. With just 48 pupils on roll against a capacity of 49, Huxley is one of the smallest primaries in the area, and its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022 rated it Inadequate overall. That marked a significant drop from its previous inspection in 2015, when it was judged Good. The school’s leadership and management, quality of education, and early years provision were all graded Inadequate, while personal development and behaviour and attitudes were rated Requires improvement. For parents weighing up local options, Huxley’s current Ofsted rating places it among the minority of schools in the LA that are not rated Good or Outstanding — the authority has 14 primaries rated Outstanding.

Academically, the picture is mixed. The school’s most recent Ofsted report highlighted serious weaknesses in the quality of education, with a grade 4 (Inadequate) for that category, and early years provision also rated Inadequate. Behaviour and attitudes, and personal development, both scored 3 (Requires improvement). The previous inspection in 2015 had rated overall effectiveness as Good, with leadership and management and early years provision both at grade 2. The school does not publish Key Stage 2 SATs results in the available data, so it is not possible to compare its academic performance against the LA average of 61 for KS2 attainment. However, the small cohort size — just 48 pupils across the whole school — means that any published results would be based on very small numbers and should be interpreted with caution. The school’s admission data for 2025/26 shows it was oversubscribed, with 13 applications for 6 places and 7 first-preference applications, suggesting that despite the Ofsted rating, some local families still actively choose it.

Huxley offers a range of facilities including playing fields, an ICT suite, art studios, a sensory room, a sports hall, and a chapel, reflecting its Church of England foundation. Sports provision includes cricket, gymnastics, swimming, netball, and athletics, while clubs cover coding, science, drama, gardening, and choir. The school’s SEND provisions are broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, autistic spectrum disorder, and other difficulties or disabilities. With a free school meal rate of 14.6%, slightly above the national average for primary schools, the intake is moderately diverse in terms of disadvantage. The school is oversubscribed — 2.17 applicants per place — so securing a spot is competitive. This is a school that will particularly suit families who value a very small, church-affiliated setting with strong SEND support and a wide range of extracurricular activities, but who are comfortable with the challenges flagged by its current Ofsted rating.

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