Swarcliffe Primary School

Swarcliffe Primary School has shown effective resilience in maintaining the quality of education and standards established in previous inspections, despite facing leadership challenges over the past year. Pupils demonstrate happiness and safety within a supportive environment, and the school has made impressive strides in behavior management, leading to positive outcomes both academically and socially. The curriculum emphasizes communication and reading skills, fostering confident and articulate students who participate actively in their learning. Additionally, the school promotes character development through various extracurricular activities and leadership opportunities, preparing pupils well for future challenges.

Strengths

• Effective leadership has maintained high standards of education
• Positive behavior management leads to a safe and happy learning environment
• Strong emphasis on communication and language development in early years
• Well-structured phonics approach enhances reading skills from early stages
• Curriculum is coherently structured, supporting knowledge progression across year groups
• Proactive identification and support for pupils with special educational needs
• Positive attitudes to learning and active student engagement in classes
• Robust governance provides effective support and challenge
• Commitment to pupils' personal development through diverse extracurricular activities

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance strategies are not effectively reaching all pupils
• Inconsistent checks on pupil understanding in some foundation subjects

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 Swarcliffe Primary School attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 28.1% 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, 1.9% of pupils at Swarcliffe 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 Swarcliffe Primary School had 18.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.7% 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, 21.1% of pupils at Swarcliffe Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.0% 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 Swarcliffe Primary School received £8,114 and spent £7,800 for each of its 297 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £219,000 (£738 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

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What is Swarcliffe Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Swarcliffe Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Swarcliffe Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Swarcliffe Primary School have?

Swarcliffe Primary School has 299 pupils on roll.

What age range does Swarcliffe Primary School cover?

Swarcliffe Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Swarcliffe Primary School?

Swarcliffe Primary School is at Swarcliffe Drive, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS14 5JW.