Skipton Parish Church of England Primary School

About Skipton Parish Church of England Primary School

Skipton Parish Church of England Primary School is a popular choice among local families, with 55 applications chasing just 18 places for the 2025/26 intake, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.06. Of those applicants, 17 put the school as their first preference, and 16 received offers. This level of demand suggests strong word-of-mouth reputation, though the school does not publish a formal parent satisfaction survey percentage. The school is a Church of England state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 4 to 11, led by headteacher Lucy Peberdy. It has capacity for 420 pupils but currently enrols 220, so there is room to grow. A significant 36.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, indicating a diverse intake. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2024 rated it Good across all areas, including behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision, a notable improvement from its previous Inadequate rating in 2019.

Academically, the school’s Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 year show 55% of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined, which is below the North Yorkshire local authority average of 60%. In individual subjects, 73% reached the expected standard in reading, 76% in writing, and 70% in maths. Higher attainment is less common, with 18% achieving a higher standard in reading, but just 3% in both writing and maths. Average scaled scores were 103 in reading and 101 in maths. Nationally, the school ranks in the bottom 50% of primary schools on the combined expected standard metric, sitting at the 68th percentile. Within North Yorkshire, it ranks 145th out of 292 similar schools, placing it in the middle of the pack locally. The school does not publish progress scores for reading, writing, or maths, so it is hard to gauge how much value it adds relative to pupils’ starting points.

The school offers a range of facilities including a library, forest school area, gymnasium, outdoor playground, dining hall, sensory room, and chapel. Sports provision covers gymnastics, cricket, swimming, and dance, while clubs include coding, book club, chess, choir, eco club, and gardening. For pupils with additional needs, the school supports seven categories of special educational needs, including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language difficulties, physical disability, autistic spectrum disorder, and other difficulties. This breadth of SEND provision, combined with the sensory room and forest school, suggests the school is well-equipped to support a range of learners. Given its oversubscription, families should apply early and consider their catchment area. The school will particularly suit families who value a Church of England ethos, a supportive SEND environment, and a school that has made a clear improvement journey from a previous inadequate rating to a solid Good.

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