Priory Junior School

Priory Junior School continues to perform well, maintaining its status as a good school. Students express positive sentiments about their experiences, highlighting a supportive environment where kindness and emotional understanding are prioritized. The school emphasizes high expectations for learning and personal achievement, with particularly strong results in sports. However, the curriculum requires further clarity in certain areas to ensure all pupils retain key knowledge effectively over time, particularly for those with specific educational needs. The school has made notable improvements in communication with parents since the pandemic, but continues to seek ways to enhance this further.

Strengths

• Pupils treat each other with kindness and consideration.
• Strong emphasis on mental and physical health education.
• Effective support for pupils learning to read and those with special educational needs.
• High expectations and pride in their achievements.
• Staff are well trained and supported in their roles.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils with SEND do not receive the specific support they need.
• Curriculum guidelines in certain subjects lack clarity, leading to gaps in knowledge retention.

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 Priory Junior School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.7% 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, 3.7% of pupils at Priory Junior 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 Priory Junior School had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.9% 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, 12.9% of pupils at Priory Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.3% 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 Priory Junior School received £7,460 and spent £7,425 for each of its 280 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £352,000 (£1,258 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 St Neots · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

What is Priory Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Priory Junior School is Good, from an inspection in December 2022.

When was Priory Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Priory Junior School was last inspected in December 2022.

How many pupils does Priory Junior School have?

Priory Junior School has 280 pupils on roll.

What age range does Priory Junior School cover?

Priory Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Priory Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 45% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Priory Junior School?

Priory Junior School is at Longsands Road, St Neots, Cambridgeshire, PE19 1TF.