Great Bardfield Primary School

Great Bardfield Primary School is a small village primary that is performing at the expected standard overall. Inspectors found a happy, inclusive school with high attendance, positive behaviour and a strong ethos of 'courage, compassion and community'. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils benefit from a well-sequenced curriculum, effective phonics teaching, strong early years provision and a wide personal development offer. Published outcomes in phonics and multiplication tables are above national averages, and disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are well known and supported.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive safeguarding culture.
• Pupils are happy, attend well and behave respectfully; bullying and discrimination are rare.
• Attendance is a high priority, and disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND attend more regularly than their national counterparts.
• The curriculum is sequenced and progressive, and recent English changes are improving pupils' writing.
• Phonics is well established and taught with precision, helping pupils read and write confidently.
• Year 1 pupils achieve above national averages in the phonics screening check, and Year 4 pupils outperform nationally in multiplication tables.
• Early years provision is well planned, prioritises reading and communication, and prepares children well for Year 1.
• The school is inclusive, with clear systems to identify needs and effective use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils.
• Governance is effective: governors know the school well and fulfil their statutory duties.
• Staff feel valued and supported, including during recent building-related challenges.
• Personal development is a strength, with a broad enrichment offer, clubs, trips and leadership opportunities.
• Pupils learn about mental health, community, British values and cultural diversity.

Areas for Improvement

• Foundational knowledge is not always securely embedded, so some pupils do not consistently achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Adaptive teaching is not applied consistently or effectively, and some tasks do not let pupils show their knowledge and understanding clearly.
• Targeted support for some pupils is not having the positive impact leaders intend.
• Published outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in combined reading, writing and mathematics, especially writing, are below national averages, with a wide disadvantage gap.
• In early years, disadvantaged pupils are not always given enough opportunities for quality interactions with staff.
• Staff need further development in curriculum and adaptive teaching to ensure work is consistently well matched to pupils' needs.
• Pupils' basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics are not always well embedded.

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 Great Bardfield Primary School attended 95.5% 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 Great Bardfield 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 Great Bardfield Primary School had 18.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.8% 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, 7.7% of pupils at Great Bardfield Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.7% 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 Great Bardfield Primary School received £8,314 and spent £8,192 for each of its 117 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £45,000 (£382 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 Braintree · Essex local authority: places and applications

What is Great Bardfield Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Great Bardfield Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Great Bardfield Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Great Bardfield Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Great Bardfield Primary School have?

Great Bardfield Primary School has 117 pupils on roll.

What age range does Great Bardfield Primary School cover?

Great Bardfield Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

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

Where is Great Bardfield Primary School?

Great Bardfield Primary School is at Braintree Road, Great Bardfield, Braintree, Essex, CM7 4RN.