Ghyllgrove Primary School

Ghyllgrove Primary School is a good school across all key judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the school has had a new headteacher since September 2023. Pupils are happy, feel safe and benefit from positive relationships with staff. The school is ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND and children in the early years, and pupils generally achieve well.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and enjoy school because of positive relationships with adults.
• The school has a broad, ambitious and balanced curriculum that begins in the early years.
• Reading is a priority, with strong phonics teaching and effective support for pupils who need to catch up.
• Pupils with SEND, including those in the specially resourced provision for deaf pupils, are well supported and fully included.
• Pupils are polite, respectful and considerate, and lessons are calm.
• Personal development provision is a strength, covering well-being, safety and respect for difference.
• Attendance is improving quickly because of stronger work with families.
• Governance is effective, and staff feel well supported and mindful of workload.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects, the curriculum does not clearly identify the vocabulary and knowledge pupils should learn over time, so teaching is less sharply focused and pupils develop gaps in their learning.

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 Ghyllgrove Primary School attended 93.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.5% 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 Ghyllgrove 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 Ghyllgrove Primary School had 20.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 19.0% of pupils at Ghyllgrove Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.6% 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 Ghyllgrove Primary School received £7,788 and spent £7,419 for each of its 630 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £747,000 (£1,185 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 Basildon · Essex local authority: places and applications

What is Ghyllgrove Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ghyllgrove Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Ghyllgrove Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ghyllgrove Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Ghyllgrove Primary School have?

Ghyllgrove Primary School has 630 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ghyllgrove Primary School cover?

Ghyllgrove Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 49% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ghyllgrove Primary School?

Ghyllgrove Primary School is at The Gore, Basildon, Essex, SS14 2BG.