The Drive Community Primary School

The Drive Community Primary School is performing well overall, achieving a good rating across all inspection domains. The school demonstrates a strong commitment to supporting pupils' academic and personal development, fostering positive relationships among students. A notable feature is the school's approach to well-being and inclusion, ensuring that all pupils, including those with special educational needs, receive appropriate support. Leaders have clearly prioritized these areas, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic, which has positively impacted the children's happiness and engagement at school.

Strengths

• Strong leadership and vision promoting aspiration in pupils.
• Effective teaching methods leading to good progress in subjects like mathematics.
• Positive relationships among pupils that contribute to good behavior.
• Comprehensive support for pupils’ well-being, including mental health initiatives.
• Successful phonics program enabling children to read with confidence.
• Inclusive practices ensuring support for all pupils, including those with SEND.

Areas for Improvement

• Essential knowledge in some subjects is not clearly planned, leading to gaps in understanding.
• Teachers face challenges in assessing and checking pupils' learning due to unclear knowledge requirements in certain 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 The Drive Community Primary School attended 93.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.9% 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, 1.4% of pupils at The Drive Community 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 The Drive Community Primary School had 18.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.2% 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, 15.0% of pupils at The Drive Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% 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 The Drive Community Primary School received £7,975 and spent £7,945 for each of its 199 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £26,000 (-£133 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 Gateshead · Gateshead local authority: places and applications

What is The Drive Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Drive Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in December 2022.

When was The Drive Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Drive Community Primary School was last inspected in December 2022.

How many pupils does The Drive Community Primary School have?

The Drive Community Primary School has 213 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Drive Community Primary School cover?

The Drive Community Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are The Drive Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is The Drive Community Primary School?

The Drive Community Primary School is at The Drive, Felling, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, NE10 0PY.