Worlingham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

About Worlingham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Worlingham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is a state primary for mixed pupils aged 4 to 11, and it is currently oversubscribed. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 66 applications for 44 places, with 52 of those applicants listing it as their first preference, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.5. The school is running slightly above its official capacity of 323, with 329 pupils on roll. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 10.7 per cent, which is below the national average for primary schools and suggests a relatively affluent local intake. The school has a Church of England religious character and is located in the East Suffolk borough, within the Suffolk local authority area. Holly Marchand is the headteacher.

Academically, Worlingham performs well above the local authority average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 72 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Suffolk average of 58 per cent. The school’s average scaled scores were 105 in reading and 104 in maths. A higher proportion of pupils achieved the higher standard in reading (28 per cent) and maths (23 per cent) than in writing (12 per cent). Nationally, the school ranks in the top 27 per cent of all primary schools for the combined expected standard metric. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in May 2025, the school was rated Outstanding across all graded categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The early years provision was also judged Outstanding. This continues a pattern of strong inspection outcomes, with the previous inspection in 2018 also awarding an Outstanding overall rating.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a sports hall, gymnasium, playing fields, library, music rooms, art studios, a dining hall, a chapel, and a forest school. Sports on offer include athletics, netball, swimming and rounders, while clubs cover drama, science, coding and book club. The school has a substantial SEND provision, supporting pupils with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent feedback from a survey between September 2024 and September 2025 was largely positive, with 90 per cent of respondents saying they would recommend the school. However, the SEND support question showed a more mixed response, with 37 per cent disagreeing that SEND children receive the support they need. This school is likely to suit families who value strong academic outcomes and a Church of England ethos, but oversubscription means early application is essential.

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