The Elms Primary School

About The Elms Primary School

The Elms Primary School in the Vale of White Horse has strong parent backing, with 89% of respondents to the Parent View survey saying they would recommend it. That figure comes from 54 responses collected between September 2024 and September 2025, and it's backed up by some very positive individual scores: 94% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and 93% felt their child does well there. The school is also clearly popular on the ground — for the 2025/26 admissions round, it received 73 applications for just 30 places, an oversubscription ratio of 2.43. Of those, 36 were first-preference applications, and all 30 offers went to first-preference families. That level of demand suggests a school that local parents trust and want to get into, even though it's not the highest-ranked academically in the area.

Academically, the picture is more mixed. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 50% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is below the Oxfordshire local authority average of 61%. The school ranks 37th out of 47 primary schools in the Vale of White Horse on this measure, placing it in the bottom half locally and in the bottom 50% nationally. However, individual subject scores tell a slightly different story: 67% reached the expected standard in writing, 63% in reading and 60% in maths. The proportion reaching the higher standard in all three subjects was 11%, with writing the strongest at 22%. Average scaled scores were 103 in reading and 102 in maths. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in May 2025 rated it Good across all areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — a consistent improvement from its previous Good rating in 2014.

The school operates as a mixed, non-religious state primary for children aged 3 to 11, with nursery provision on site. It currently has 304 pupils against a capacity of 420, so there is some room for growth, though the oversubscription figures suggest demand is concentrated at the usual entry points. Facilities include a sports hall, ICT suite, forest school, sensory room and chapel, with clubs covering coding, book club, chess, gardening and drama. Sports on offer are netball, football, cross country, rounders and swimming. The school's SEND register covers a wide range of needs, including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability and social, emotional and mental health support. With 20.6% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a reasonably diverse intake. It will suit families who value a strong community feel and a school that parents actively champion, even if its headline academic results sit below the local average.

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