Southwood School

Southwood School continues to perform well, maintaining its status as a good school. It is characterized by a welcoming and inclusive environment where pupils feel safe and valued. The school promotes strong relationships between staff and pupils, leading to a positive ethos of respect and resilience. Pupils are engaged in their learning and participate eagerly in extracurricular activities, highlighting their enjoyment of the school community. Despite these strengths, there are areas that need improvement, particularly in the sequencing of the curriculum in a few subjects, which sometimes hinders the building upon prior knowledge.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive school environment
• Strong relationships between staff and pupils
• High expectations for achievement and conduct
• Broad and well-structured curriculum in most subjects
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities
• Positive behaviour and calm learning environment
• Engaging extracurricular activities that pupils enjoy

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent sequencing of knowledge in a few subjects
• Some older pupils lack phonics knowledge for fluent reading
• Staff lack technical expertise to effectively support catch-up in reading

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 Southwood School attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.3% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Southwood 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 Southwood School had 13.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.3% 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, 12.4% of pupils at Southwood School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 12.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 16 pupils.

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 Southwood School received £10,222 and spent £9,644 for each of its 170 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £331,000 (£1,950 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 Milton Keynes · Milton Keynes local authority: places and applications

What is Southwood School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Southwood School is Good, from an inspection in July 2023.

When was Southwood School last inspected by Ofsted?

Southwood School was last inspected in July 2023.

How many pupils does Southwood School have?

Southwood School has 170 pupils on roll.

What age range does Southwood School cover?

Southwood School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Southwood School's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Southwood School?

Southwood School is at Bryony Place, Conniburrow Boulevard, Conniburrow, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK14 7AR.