Stanford In the Vale CofE Primary School

About Stanford In the Vale CofE Primary School

Parents considering Stanford In the Vale CofE Primary School will find a school that local families clearly want to be part of. For the 2025/26 reception intake, the school received 54 applications for 30 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.8. Every one of those 30 first-preference applicants was offered a place, which suggests that while the school is popular, it is not impossibly competitive to get into if you live nearby. The school has a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has held consistently across its two most recent inspections. The most recent ungraded inspection, in December 2022, confirmed that the school remains Good. With 202 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, the school is running close to full, and 16.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is slightly above the national average for primary schools.

Academically, the school’s Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 year paint a mixed picture. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined was 41%, which is well below the Oxfordshire local authority average of 61%. In the Vale of White Horse ranking, the school sits at 40th out of 47 primary schools, placing it in the bottom half locally. Looking at individual subjects, 66% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, 55% in writing and 55% in maths. The average scaled scores were 104 for reading and 100 for maths, both close to the national average of 100. However, only 3% of pupils achieved the higher standard in all three subjects, and the school ranks in the bottom 10% nationally on this measure. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is Buckland Church of England Primary School, 4.5 km away.

The school offers a solid range of facilities and activities that give a sense of a well-resourced village primary. There is a Forest School, an outdoor playground, a library, art studios and a chapel. Sports provision includes football, cricket, gymnastics, rounders, swimming and athletics, while clubs cover gardening, chess, choir, film club, drama and book club. For children with additional needs, the school lists SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. The school is a Church of England primary, so it will suit families who value a faith-based setting, though it is a state school with no nursery provision and no sixth form. Given its oversubscription but high first-preference offer rate, it is a realistic option for local families who apply early, particularly those in the Vale of White Horse area.

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