Ashbrow School

Ashbrow School is a community primary where pupils are happy, polite and respectful, and many families new to the country are well supported, including through translation services. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision are all good. The school has improved since its previous inspection, with a shared drive for improvement, effective governance and a strong early years start. Safeguarding is effective. However, the quality of education requires improvement. The curriculum is ambitious and has been substantially revised, but pupils do not achieve well in many areas. Checks on learning do not precisely identify gaps, and some learning tasks do not help pupils build knowledge effectively. Writing is a particular weakness: pupils are sometimes asked to write before securing basic skills, and older pupils do not consistently get support to build English beyond phonics. There are notable strengths in phonics, support for pupils with SEND, attendance work and personal development. The main priorities are to improve writing, use assessment information better to shape learning activities, and restore a broader range of opportunities for pupils’ talents and interests after extracurricular provision was reduced because of staffing challenges.

Strengths

• Strong community ethos with effective support for pupils new to the country and families who speak English as an additional language
• Pupils are happy, polite and well mannered, with positive behaviour in lessons and at playtimes
• Pupils understand tolerance, respect and fundamental British values and know how to keep themselves safe
• The curriculum is ambitious, with clearly defined knowledge and skills and planned revisiting of important concepts
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and learning is adapted so they make secure progress
• Phonics is taught consistently well, with reading books closely matched to pupils’ sounds and effective extra support
• Early years provision has improved notably, with warm relationships, purposeful interactions and strong support for children with SEND
• Attendance is analysed intelligently and families receive support to improve regular attendance
• Personal development has a strong focus on safety, health, equality and respect for different faiths and beliefs
• Leadership has established a culture of high expectations, effective governance and careful management of staff workload

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve well in many areas of the curriculum
• Checks on learning do not precisely identify gaps in pupils’ understanding
• Some learning tasks do not enable pupils to achieve as well as they could
• The school has not taught the knowledge and skills pupils need to become effective writers, including in national tests
• Some older pupils do not consistently receive support to build English skills and knowledge beyond phonics
• Pupils are sometimes asked to apply writing knowledge before securing basic skills
• Assessment information is not used well in some subjects to ensure activities build knowledge over time
• Few opportunities are provided for pupils to develop talents and interests, partly because extracurricular provision has been reduced due to staffing challenges

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 Ashbrow School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.0% 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, 1.2% of pupils at Ashbrow 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 Ashbrow School had 23.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.9% 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, 13.8% of pupils at Ashbrow School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.4% 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 Ashbrow School received £7,916 and spent £7,685 for each of its 408 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £127,000 (£311 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 Huddersfield · Kirklees local authority: places and applications

What is Ashbrow School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ashbrow School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Ashbrow School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ashbrow School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Ashbrow School have?

Ashbrow School has 414 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ashbrow School cover?

Ashbrow School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Ashbrow School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ashbrow School?

Ashbrow School is at Ash Meadow Close, Sheepridge, Ashbrow School, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD2 1EX.