Penruddock Primary School

Penruddock Primary School is performing at a strong standard overall, having established an effective culture of safeguarding and high expectations for attendance and behavior. The school has made strides in leadership and curriculum development since the previous inspection, leading to improvements in student engagement and warm relationships between staff and pupils. More notably, the early years provision has seen positive changes, enabling children to develop vital foundational skills for their future education. However, despite these strengths, the school faces challenges with some pupils not achieving their full potential, particularly in making connections across the curriculum and addressing gaps in foundational skills.

Strengths

• High expectations for attendance and behavior.
• Effective leadership and governance with clear improvement priorities.
• Warm and respectful relationships between staff and pupils.
• Successful early years provision prioritizing phonics and vocabulary development.
• Positive personal development programs and extra-curricular activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.
• Inconsistent connections between current learning and prior knowledge.
• Teachers do not routinely check what pupils know before new learning.
• Gaps in pupils' foundational skills in reading, writing, and mathematics are not consistently addressed.
• Support for pupils with SEND needs improvement in identification and adaptation.

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 Penruddock Primary School attended 96.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.3% 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 Penruddock 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 Penruddock Primary School had 13.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.0% 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, 25.0% of pupils at Penruddock Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% 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 Penruddock Primary School received £11,204 and spent £11,200 for each of its 48 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £9,000 (-£196 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 Penrith · Westmorland and Furness local authority: places and applications

What is Penruddock Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Penruddock Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in April 2026.

When was Penruddock Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Penruddock Primary School was last inspected in April 2026.

How many pupils does Penruddock Primary School have?

Penruddock Primary School has 48 pupils on roll.

What age range does Penruddock Primary School cover?

Penruddock Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Penruddock Primary School?

Penruddock Primary School is at Penruddock, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0QU.