Parklea Primary School

Parklea Primary School demonstrates good overall effectiveness, with students displaying pride in their school and a strong enthusiasm for learning. The school has made significant improvements to its curriculum, which has positively affected student knowledge in many areas. However, there have been challenges due to its recent formation from two schools and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have left some gaps in student achievement in national tests. While the school has a positive atmosphere and well-supported behavior management, it must continue improving to ensure that all students are consistently achieving at their highest potential.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud of their school and show a love for learning.
• The curriculum is well-designed and logically sequenced.
• Pupils receive effective support to fill gaps in their knowledge.
• Reading is prioritized from early years with well-trained staff.
• Pupils with SEND make strong progress.
• Classrooms are calm and conducive to learning.
• The school promotes values of equality and diversity effectively.

Areas for Improvement

• Some staff have varying subject knowledge leading to gaps in pupils' understanding.
• Previous cohorts did not achieve as well in national tests as expected.

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 Parklea Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.3% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Parklea 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 Parklea Primary School had 22.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 31.2% 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, 8.2% of pupils at Parklea Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% 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 Parklea Primary School received £6,926 and spent £7,032 for each of its 547 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £43,000 (-£78 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 Luton · Luton local authority: places and applications

What is Parklea Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Parklea Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2024.

When was Parklea Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Parklea Primary School was last inspected in March 2024.

How many pupils does Parklea Primary School have?

Parklea Primary School has 547 pupils on roll.

What age range does Parklea Primary School cover?

Parklea Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Parklea Primary School?

Parklea Primary School is at Cranbrook Drive, Sundon Park, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU3 3EW.