Downsway Primary School

Downsway Primary School continues to demonstrate good overall performance, providing a supportive and inclusive learning environment for its pupils. The school culture encourages curiosity, responsibility, and self-belief, fostering an atmosphere where students feel safe and valued. Leaders have successfully implemented a well-structured curriculum that facilitates engaging learning experiences, particularly in the early years, leading to a sound educational foundation for pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, polite, and caring towards one another.
• The curriculum is exciting and well-sequenced, with strong subject knowledge among teachers.
• The provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is highly effective.
• Leaders offer a wide range of opportunities for pupils to develop talents and skills outside of the classroom.
• Pupils behave well and demonstrate respect for classmates.

Areas for Improvement

• Some reading books do not match pupils' reading abilities closely enough.
• Leaders do not always use assessment information to guide future teaching effectively.

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 Downsway Primary School attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.2% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Downsway 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 Downsway Primary School had 23.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.0% 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, 12.2% of pupils at Downsway Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.7% 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 Downsway Primary School received £6,400 and spent £6,308 for each of its 213 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £98,000 (£461 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 Reading · West Berkshire local authority: places and applications

What is Downsway Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Downsway Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2023.

When was Downsway Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Downsway Primary School was last inspected in June 2023.

How many pupils does Downsway Primary School have?

Downsway Primary School has 213 pupils on roll.

What age range does Downsway Primary School cover?

Downsway Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 61% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Downsway Primary School?

Downsway Primary School is at Warbreck Drive, Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire, RG31 6FE.