Oakwood Primary School

Oakwood Primary School is performing securely overall. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school is graded strong standard for attendance and behaviour and for inclusion. Most other areas, including achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing, are at the expected standard. Pupils are happy, safe and attend regularly, and they behave well in a calm and purposeful environment. The school places inclusion at the centre of its work, supporting pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils effectively. Notable strengths include the priority leaders give to attendance, the positive attitudes and mutual support among pupils, and the strong inclusive culture. Early reading and phonics are taught successfully, the curriculum is broad and well ordered, and pupils benefit from a wide enrichment offer. Leadership is dedicated, staff are well supported, and governors provide appropriate support and challenge. The main areas for development relate to writing and checking pupils' understanding. A small proportion of pupils make errors in letter formation and handwriting, and writing teaching is not as consistently effective as other areas. Leaders are also working to ensure staff check understanding consistently so gaps are identified and addressed quickly. Published 2024/25 outcomes were below national averages in combined reading, writing and mathematics, and in writing, with wide disadvantaged pupil gaps, although leaders have taken action and improvements are beginning to be seen.

Strengths

• Leaders make attendance and punctuality a high priority, and most pupils attend school regularly.
• Pupils behave well, have highly positive attitudes to learning and are supportive of one another.
• The school has a calm, purposeful environment where disruption to learning is rare.
• Bullying and harassment are not tolerated and are dealt with quickly and effectively.
• Inclusion is at the centre of the school's work, with accurate identification of needs and effective targeted support.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are well supported to access the full curriculum and enrichment.
• Pupil premium funding is used effectively to provide highly tailored support.
• Early reading and phonics are taught successfully, helping pupils become fluent and confident readers.
• The curriculum is broad and well-ordered, with reading and mathematics basic skills prioritised.
• Children get a positive start in early years and typically leave Reception well prepared for Year 1.
• Leadership is dedicated and ambitious, with strong staff development and support.
• Governors bring appropriate expertise, meet statutory duties and provide support and challenge.
• Personal development is well embedded, with pupils learning resilience, safety, respect and empathy.
• Pupils take part in a wide range of enrichment activities in music, art and sport.
• Parents and carers are positive about the school and feel their children are happy, safe and doing well.

Areas for Improvement

• A small proportion of pupils make errors in writing, particularly letter formation and handwriting, affecting consistency across the curriculum.
• The teaching of writing is not as consistently effective as other areas of teaching.
• Staff do not routinely identify errors in letter formation quickly.
• Leaders are working to ensure staff check pupils' understanding consistently well so gaps in knowledge are identified and addressed quickly.
• Some pupils are not as well prepared for their next steps in learning as they could be because foundational writing skills are not consistently supported.
• Published 2024/25 outcomes were below national averages in combined reading, writing and mathematics, and in writing.
• Disadvantaged pupils' gaps compared with national non-disadvantaged pupils were wide in 2024/25, particularly in writing and mathematics.

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 Oakwood Primary School attended 95.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.9% 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 Oakwood 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 Oakwood Primary School had 24.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.6% 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, 12.9% of pupils at Oakwood Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.6% 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 Oakwood Primary School received £6,600 and spent £7,407 for each of its 419 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £538,000 (-£1,285 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 Southampton · Southampton local authority: places and applications

Oakwood Primary School is part of Bridge Education Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Fairisle Infant and Nursery School Southampton
• Fairisle Junior School Southampton
• Shirley Warren Primary & Nursery School Southampton
• Newlands Primary School Southampton
• Redbridge Primary School Southampton

What is Oakwood Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Oakwood Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Oakwood Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Oakwood Primary School have?

Oakwood Primary School has 419 pupils on roll.

What age range does Oakwood Primary School cover?

Oakwood Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 48% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Oakwood Primary School?

Oakwood Primary School is at Sandpiper Road, Southampton, Hampshire, SO16 8FD.