Old Palace Primary School

Old Palace Primary School has made a successful transition from its previous outstanding performance, currently being rated as Good overall. The school demonstrates exemplary behaviour and attitudes among pupils, reflecting a well-managed learning environment that promotes respect and tolerance. The curriculum is ambitious and thoughtfully sequenced, enabling pupils to achieve well while also fostering a love for learning through creative enrichment activities. Despite the positive attributes, the school has identified some areas for improvement, particularly in staff training regarding phonics instruction, essential for enhancing reading skills among younger pupils.

Strengths

• Exemplary behaviour and attitudes of pupils.
• Ambitious and well-organized curriculum from Reception to Year 6.
• Strong support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Rich variety of enrichment opportunities for pupils.
• Effective early years provision fostering high motivation and engagement.
• Positive relationships between staff and pupils, promoting a safe learning environment.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent subject knowledge of phonics among staff at times.
• Some weaker readers have reading books not well matched to their phonic stage.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Old Palace Primary School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Old Palace Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Old Palace Primary School had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 8.8% of pupils at Old Palace Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Old Palace Primary School received £9,522 and spent £9,607 for each of its 386 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £530,000 (£1,374 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Tower Hamlets · Tower Hamlets local authority: places and applications

What is Old Palace Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Old Palace Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

When was Old Palace Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Old Palace Primary School was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does Old Palace Primary School have?

Old Palace Primary School has 386 pupils on roll.

What age range does Old Palace Primary School cover?

Old Palace Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Old Palace Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 75% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Old Palace Primary School?

Old Palace Primary School is at St Leonard's Street, Bow, London, E3 3BT.