Lower Wortley Primary School

Lower Wortley Primary School is a welcoming, larger-than-average community primary in Leeds where pupils are happy, feel safe and behave well. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision are good, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Children get off to a strong start in early years, especially in communication, language and phonics, and pupils benefit from strong reading provision and a wide personal development programme. The school’s quality of education and leadership and management require improvement. While pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well in core subjects such as English and mathematics, the wider curriculum is not yet consistently strong. In some foundation subjects, the precise knowledge and vocabulary pupils should learn are not clearly identified, assessment is used inconsistently, and subject leaders have not had enough subject-specific training. As a result, some pupils do not build detailed knowledge over time or apply what they have learned well enough. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is on an improvement journey. Leaders have prioritised curriculum development in core subjects, governors fulfil their statutory responsibilities, and there is a strong culture of respect for diversity. The report notes that the school now needs to sharpen foundation subject curriculum content, make assessment more consistent and strengthen subject leadership in those areas.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and behave well in lessons and around school.
• Strong relationships between pupils and staff create a welcoming culture.
• Early years provision is well designed and prepares children well for key stage 1.
• The new phonics programme is delivered expertly and is having a positive impact.
• Pupils enjoy reading and weaker readers are identified quickly and supported effectively.
• Pupils develop highly positive attitudes to learning as they move through school.
• The personal development programme prepares pupils for the wider world.
• Pupils learn about mental health, well-being, discrimination and healthy relationships.
• Pupils take on leadership roles and contribute to school life.
• The school has a strong, well-established culture of respect for diversity.
• Governors fulfil their statutory responsibilities and monitor staff workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Precise knowledge and subject-specific vocabulary are not clearly identified in foundation subjects.
• Pupils do not consistently build detailed knowledge and understanding in some wider curriculum subjects.
• Some pupils struggle to apply their knowledge in foundation subjects.
• Assessment methods are used inconsistently across the school.
• Gaps in pupils’ knowledge are sometimes not identified and addressed quickly enough.
• Leaders of some foundation subjects have not had sufficient subject-specific training.
• Some subject leaders are not yet well enough equipped to plan and lead a high-quality curriculum.

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 Lower Wortley 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, 0.3% of pupils at Lower Wortley 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 Lower Wortley Primary School had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.7% 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, 13.6% of pupils at Lower Wortley Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.5% 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 Lower Wortley Primary School received £8,025 and spent £8,226 for each of its 324 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £79,000 (£245 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).

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What is Lower Wortley Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lower Wortley Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Lower Wortley Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Lower Wortley Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Lower Wortley Primary School have?

Lower Wortley Primary School has 331 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lower Wortley Primary School cover?

Lower Wortley Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 55% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Lower Wortley Primary School?

Lower Wortley Primary School is at Lower Wortley Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS12 4PX.