Kniveton CofE Primary School

Kniveton CofE Primary School has been rated as 'good' in its recent Ofsted inspection, marking a shift from its previous 'outstanding' rating from 14 years ago. The inspection highlights a positive school environment where pupils feel safe, enjoy their lessons, and have strong relationships with staff. While the school performs well overall in education quality, behaviour, personal development, and leadership, there are areas that require improvement, particularly in curriculum planning for some subjects. The school has faced significant changes since its last inspection, and the new rating reflects current performance against the latest inspection standards.

Strengths

• Pupils exhibit a strong sense of pride and belonging.
• The reading curriculum is ambitious and effectively engages pupils.
• Pupils enjoy harmonious breaktimes and participate in various activities.
• High-quality written work is evident across the school.
• Pupils with SEND receive very good support and achieve well.

Areas for Improvement

• The curriculum is not well planned in design and technology and computing.
• Some staff lack adequate subject knowledge in phonics, affecting early reading development.
• Governors do not always check leaders' actions thoroughly.

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 Kniveton CofE Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.2% 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, 1.7% of pupils at Kniveton 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 Kniveton CofE Primary School had 12.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 35.5% 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, 21.8% of pupils at Kniveton CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 Kniveton CofE Primary School received £10,346 and spent £10,203 for each of its 55 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £40,000 (£724 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 Ashbourne · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

What is Kniveton CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kniveton CofE Primary School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Kniveton CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Kniveton CofE Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Kniveton CofE Primary School have?

Kniveton CofE Primary School has 55 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kniveton CofE Primary School cover?

Kniveton CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 82% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Kniveton CofE Primary School?

Kniveton CofE Primary School is at Ostrich Lane, Kniveton, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, DE6 1JJ.