Whitecrest Primary School

Whitecrest Primary School is a maintained primary school in Great Barr, Birmingham, with 205 pupils aged 3 to 11. Inspectors judged the school to be good in all key areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — and safeguarding arrangements are effective. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and no overall effectiveness grade is given under the current framework. Pupils are happy, calm and polite, and the school has high expectations for achievement. The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced, early reading is a clear priority, pupils with SEND are quickly identified and well supported, and children in the early years settle well and are prepared for the next stage. Personal development is strong, with a wide range of clubs, visits and pupil leadership roles, and leaders and governors are focused on improvement. The main areas to improve are how well pupils apply new learning in some parts of the curriculum, especially in writing, and how consistently teachers check the accuracy of pupils' writing and phonics application. Some pupils do not receive enough guidance to check their own work, which limits the accuracy of their writing.

Strengths

• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum built on pupils' prior knowledge
• Knowledgeable staff who present learning in engaging ways
• Early reading is prioritised, with effective phonics teaching and catch-up support
• A strong reading culture through the library, book club and reading rewards
• Pupils with SEND are swiftly identified and well supported
• Calm and orderly school with consistently high behaviour expectations
• Pupils are polite, kind and respectful to one another
• High-quality spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
• Wide range of clubs, visits and visitors that deepen pupils' interests and learning
• Pupil leaders make an active contribution through councillor, house captain and other roles
• Early years staff build carefully on children's knowledge and prioritise language and communication
• Leaders and governors set the right priorities and hold the school to account
• Staff feel well supported with workload and well-being
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Positive engagement with parents and the wider community

Areas for Improvement

• In some curriculum areas, work set does not help pupils practise and apply new knowledge, slowing progress, particularly in writing
• Teachers do not consistently check the accuracy of pupils' writing or how well they have applied phonics in written tasks
• Pupils are not consistently guided to check their own work, limiting the accuracy of their writing

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 Whitecrest Primary School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.3% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Whitecrest 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 Whitecrest Primary School had 20.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.9% 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, 12.7% of pupils at Whitecrest Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 Whitecrest Primary School received £7,408 and spent £7,335 for each of its 197 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £58,000 (£296 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 Birmingham · Sandwell local authority: places and applications

What is Whitecrest Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Whitecrest Primary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Whitecrest Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Whitecrest Primary School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Whitecrest Primary School have?

Whitecrest Primary School has 197 pupils on roll.

What age range does Whitecrest Primary School cover?

Whitecrest Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 74% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Whitecrest Primary School?

Whitecrest Primary School is at Whitecrest, Great Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands, B43 6HQ.