Victoria Junior School

Victoria Junior School is a junior community school within the Victoria School federation. Following its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, inspectors found strengths in behaviour, personal development and safeguarding but judged the quality of education and leadership and management as requiring improvement. Pupils are happy, polite and regular attenders, and they benefit from a broad curriculum and a wide range of clubs, trips and personal-development opportunities. Staff identify and support pupils with SEND well, reading support is effective, and governors provide appropriate support and challenge while meeting their statutory duties. The main concerns lie in curriculum clarity and assessment. In some subjects, leaders have not set out the most important knowledge pupils should learn, so staff are sometimes unclear what to teach and when. Activities do not always build deep understanding, and assessment does not reliably reveal gaps and misconceptions, meaning some pupils move on before they are ready. Leaders also lack sufficient oversight of how recent curriculum changes are affecting pupils' achievement. Inspectors concluded that the school has high aspirations and is clear about what needs to improve, but some pupils are not yet achieving as well as they should or are as well prepared as they should be for the next stage of their education. Safeguarding is effective.

Strengths

• Pupils are polite, kind and behave well in lessons and around school.
• Pupils attend regularly and are happy, valuing respectful relationships with staff and peers.
• The school provides a broad range of subjects and enriching activities, including clubs, trips and residentials.
• Personal development provision prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain, including democracy, health, safety and finances.
• Pupils with SEND are accurately identified and generally well supported to learn alongside their peers.
• Effective reading support helps pupils close phonics gaps and become confident, fluent readers.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Governors provide appropriate support and challenge and carry out statutory duties effectively.
• The school provides well-considered support for behaviour and attendance where needed.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, leaders have not identified the most important knowledge pupils should learn.
• Staff sometimes lack clarity about curriculum content and when to teach it.
• Learning activities in some subjects do not help pupils develop sufficient depth of knowledge.
• Assessment systems do not give staff enough understanding of how well pupils are learning.
• Staff sometimes miss gaps and misconceptions, so pupils move on before they are ready.
• Leaders do not have sufficient oversight of the impact of recent curriculum changes.
• Some pupils are not as well prepared as they should be for the next stage of education.

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 Victoria Junior School attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.3% 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 Victoria 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 Victoria Junior School had 18.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.0% 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, 21.5% of pupils at Victoria Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.1% 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 Victoria Junior School received £7,551 and spent £7,335 for each of its 311 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £48,000 (£154 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 Workington · Cumberland local authority: places and applications

What is Victoria Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Victoria Junior School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Victoria Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Victoria Junior School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Victoria Junior School have?

Victoria Junior School has 311 pupils on roll.

What age range does Victoria Junior School cover?

Victoria Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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

In 2025, 29% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Victoria Junior School?

Victoria Junior School is at Victoria Road, Workington, Cumbria, CA14 2RE.