William de Yaxley Church of England Academy

About William de Yaxley Church of England Academy

When you compare William de Yaxley Church of England Academy against the Cambridgeshire local authority average for primary schools, the headline metrics tell a clear story. The LA average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined (the key KS2 benchmark) sits at 58 per cent. At this school, that figure is 37 per cent, which is a significant gap of 21 percentage points. This places the school in the bottom 50 nationally for that metric, ranking 54th out of 55 schools in Huntingdonshire and in the 91st percentile regionally. The school's ranking score of 37 reflects this challenge. However, the picture is not uniformly low. In reading, 65 per cent of pupils met the expected standard, and in maths it was 60 per cent, both close to national averages. The real drag comes from writing, where only half of pupils reached the expected level, and from the combined measure, which requires success across all three subjects.

Looking deeper at the 2023/24 KS2 results, the school's average scores in reading (103) and maths (102) are both above the national benchmark of 100, suggesting that pupils are making solid progress in these individual subjects. The proportion reaching the higher standard in reading is 15 per cent, and in maths it is 10 per cent, though no pupils achieved the higher standard in writing or across all three subjects. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2023 awarded a Good rating across every category, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This is a notable improvement from its previous inspection in February 2020, when the school was rated Requires Improvement. The turnaround under headteacher Kay Corley appears to have been effective, with the school now judged to be providing a good standard of education, even if the headline KS2 results still lag behind the LA average.

The school serves a community with a higher-than-average level of disadvantage, with 26.3 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals. It is a Church of England primary for children aged 7 to 11, with a capacity of 240 and currently 205 pupils on roll, meaning there is some room for growth. Facilities include a sports hall, playing fields, a sensory room, a library, an ICT suite and a chapel. The school offers a range of sports including netball, tennis, athletics, gymnastics, swimming, rounders and cricket, plus clubs for art, coding and science. Its SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families considering this school, the key takeaway is that while the combined KS2 results are below the local average, the school has been judged Good by Ofsted and offers strong individual subject scores, a broad range of activities, and dedicated support for pupils with additional needs.

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