Purley CofE Primary School

Purley CofE Primary School is a small village primary with an on-site nursery. The inspection found safeguarding standards are met, and the school is performing at the expected standard overall, with personal development and wellbeing judged as a strong standard. Pupils are happy, safe and behave well, attendance is good, and persistent absence is low. The school has a warm, values-driven culture, strong leadership and governance, well-supported staff, and positive relationships with parents and the community. Across the remaining inspected areas, achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, and leadership and governance are all at the expected standard. The curriculum is logically sequenced, phonics and early mathematics are taught effectively, and the wider curriculum is ambitious and connected. Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are identified quickly and generally supported well, although published outcomes show an improving but historically mixed picture, with recent three-year averages below national in reading, writing and mathematics and large disadvantage gaps. The main areas for development are to ensure staff consistently check pupils’ understanding and address misconceptions, to make curriculum adaptations for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils more precise, and to maximise high-quality interactions and vocabulary development in the early years. These are refinements rather than serious weaknesses, and leaders have a clear, strategic approach to continuing improvement.

Strengths

• Strong personal development and wellbeing programme that prepares pupils well for life beyond school.
• Pupils show impressive maturity and understanding of risk, health, differences, faiths and British values.
• A warm, inclusive and values-driven culture where pupils behave well, feel safe and are happy.
• Strong leadership and governance, with staff feeling well supported and parents highly positive.
• Effective attendance strategies, with persistent absence low and most pupils attending regularly.
• A well-sequenced curriculum with effective phonics and early mathematics teaching.
• Ambitious wider curriculum subjects that build pupils’ understanding in connected ways.
• Early years provides a caring, well-planned start that helps children develop key knowledge and skills.
• Inclusion is a clear priority, with pupils’ needs identified quickly and support generally well matched.
• Pupils enjoy enriching opportunities, including trips, roles, music, sport and community involvement.

Areas for Improvement

• Checks on pupils’ knowledge and understanding are not consistently effective, so errors and misconceptions are not always addressed promptly.
• Adaptations to the curriculum for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are not consistently precise enough.
• A small proportion of pupils do not always build on their prior knowledge and skills as effectively as they could.
• Early years vocabulary development could be strengthened by maximising learning opportunities and maintaining a sharp focus on key vocabulary.
• Published outcomes have historically been mixed and remain below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics over the latest three-year period.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ published performance shows large gaps compared with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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 Purley CofE Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Purley CofE 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 Purley CofE Primary School had 17.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 37.7% 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, 36.5% of pupils at Purley CofE 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 Purley CofE Primary School received £8,736 and spent £9,355 for each of its 81 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £25,000 (-£305 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 Purley CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Purley CofE Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Purley CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Purley CofE Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Purley CofE Primary School have?

Purley CofE Primary School has 85 pupils on roll.

What age range does Purley CofE Primary School cover?

Purley CofE Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 62% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Purley CofE Primary School?

Purley CofE Primary School is at Purley Village, Purley-on-Thames, Reading, Berkshire, RG8 8AF.