Longstone CofE Primary School

About Longstone CofE Primary School

Longstone CofE Primary School, a Church of England state primary in Derbyshire Dales, was rated Good by Ofsted in its most recent ungraded inspection in 2023, a significant improvement from its previous graded inspection in 2013 when it was judged to require improvement overall. The school’s leadership and management are also rated Good, and the inspection confirmed the school remains on a positive trajectory. When it comes to academic outcomes, the most telling metric is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined: just 38% did so in the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments. This is well below the Derbyshire local authority average of 59% and places Longstone in the bottom 50 nationally for this measure. The school ranks 28th out of 35 primary schools in the Derbyshire Dales local authority area, sitting in the 80th percentile — meaning roughly four in five schools in the district outperform it on this key benchmark.

Breaking down the individual subjects, 63% of pupils met the expected standard in reading and 63% in maths, while writing lagged behind at 44%. At the higher standard, 38% achieved above the expected level in reading, but no pupils reached that threshold in writing or in the combined measure. Average scaled scores were 104 in reading and 102 in maths, both slightly above the national baseline of 100. The school does not publish progress scores for reading, writing or maths, so it is not possible to assess how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. With only 95 pupils on roll against a capacity of 139, the school is operating well below capacity, and 12.6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is close to the national average for primary schools.

The school offers a range of facilities including a sports hall, playing fields, a library, music rooms and a chapel, and runs clubs such as film, book, science, art, gardening and coding. Sports on offer include rounders, athletics, football, cricket, cross country, tennis and dance. For children with additional needs, the school lists provisions for moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment and physical disability. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: it received 17 applications for 11 places, with all 11 first-preference applicants offered a spot. This suggests strong local demand, though the oversubscription ratio of 1.55 is modest. Longstone would suit families who value a small, church-affiliated village school with a broad extracurricular offer, but who are aware that its academic outcomes are below the local average.

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