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Walford Nursery & Primary School

Primary Ages 5-11 182 pupils Ross-On-Wye
Ofsted: Outstanding
All schools in Ross-On-Wye

Walford Nursery & Primary School is a community school in Ross-On-Wye for pupils aged 5 to 11. It has 182 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for Walford Nursery & Primary School is Outstanding, from an inspection in September 2024. In 2025, 84% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. It has fewer teachers for its size than most primary schools: 34.1 pupils for each teacher in 2025/26, against 20.7 nationally. Attendance is among the best for primary schools in England, with 2.9% of sessions missed in 2024/25 compared with 5.2% nationally.

Ofsted inspection: September 2024. KS2 results: 2025.

Type Primary / Community school
Age Range 5-11
Religion Does not apply
Address Walford
Ross-on-Wye
Herefordshire
HR9 5SA
Phone 01989562209
Reference Number 116743

General Makeup

Number of pupils 182
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 40.66%
Girls: 59.34%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 6%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 6.6%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 26
Average size of Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher 25.7
Average size of Key Stage 2 classes taught by one teacher 26.3

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
1 10 11 21
2 12 18 30
3 6 21 27
4 10 17 27
5 12 13 25
6 10 16 26

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 92.3%
White, Other 4.4%
White & Black (African) 1.1%
Indian 0.5%
Mixed, Other 0.5%

Walford Nursery & Primary School has been rated as outstanding across all inspection categories, reflecting its commitment to providing a high-quality education. The school fosters a welcoming environment where pupils are happy, engaged, and eager to learn. The curriculum is designed thoughtfully to ensure pupils build on their knowledge consistently, and teachers demonstrate excellent subject knowledge, supported by effective professional development. Notably, the school is adept at catering to the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, ensuring they thrive alongside their peers.

Overall Ofsted Rating Outstanding
 >  Quality of education Outstanding
  >  Behaviour & Attitude Outstanding
  >  Personal Development Outstanding
  >  Leadership & Management Outstanding
  >  Early Years Provision Outstanding
Last Report Date 10 Jul 2024
Date Report
10 Jul 2024 School inspection:
04 May 2023 School inspection
27 Jun 2017 Short inspection
08 May 2013 Full inspection:
09 Jan 2012 Interim assessment
26 Feb 2009 Full inspection:
06 Dec 2005 Full inspection:
02 Nov 2000 Full inspection

Strengths

  • Exemplary pupil behaviour and positive attitudes towards learning.
  • Innovative and well-sequenced curriculum that engages pupils.
  • High-quality early years provision that fosters vocabulary development.
  • Effective adaptations for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
  • Strong emphasis on equality and personal development.

How many students meet the standards

Reading, Writing & Maths School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Pupils meeting the expected standard 84%
Pupils meeting a higher standard 24%

Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Subject School Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 110
Maths 109

Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 3.7
Writing 3.6
Maths 2.2

How many students meet the standards

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Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

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Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

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Reception admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 18 1
Third Preference 5 0
From another Local Authority 8 4

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Walford Nursery & Primary School had 181 pupils for 196 places. 15 places (7.7%) were unfilled.

Pupils and places

Reception intake in the “Rural Ross” planning area

Herefordshire, County of counted 117 Reception pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 105 in 2029–30, down 10%.

201020112012201320142015201620172018201920212022202320242025
Places 196196196196196196196196198200196196196196196
Pupils 177185192191195189194197204213205198196201181
Unfilled 9.7%5.6%2.0%2.6%0.5%3.6%1.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%7.7%

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 Walford Nursery & Primary School attended 97.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

20142015201620172018201920212022202320242025
Authorised absence 2.7%2.8%2.5%2.2%2.2%1.9%1.4%4.1%2.6%2.8%2.3%
Unauthorised absence 0.4%0.5%0.6%0.8%0.7%0.8%0.5%0.6%0.6%0.6%0.6%
Severely absent pupils 0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%

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, 0.5% of pupils at Walford Nursery & Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

2010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 0.04.90.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.5
Permanent exclusions 0000000000000000

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 Walford Nursery & Primary School had 34.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

2011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Pupils per adult 13.813.715.514.712.011.814.016.215.515.521.923.417.719.428.931.5
Teachers who left state teaching 0.0%11.6%11.2%10.1%20.8%4.2%2.3%0.0%0.0%20.8%27.9%0.0%3.8%26.3%0.0%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 53.8%15.4%33.3%33.3%58.3%53.8%45.5%50.0%10.0%–15.4%27.3%–16.7%––
Sick days per teacher 3.50.20.81.51.61.20.81.30.1–1.00.8–0.6––

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, 20.3% of pupils at Walford Nursery & Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Moderate learning difficulty 16 0
Social, emotional and mental health 14 2
Speech, language and communication needs 2 2
Specific learning difficulty 2 2
Hearing impairment 1 0
Multi-sensory impairment 1 0
Vision impairment 1 0

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 Walford Nursery & Primary School received £7,550 and spent £7,846 for each of its 182 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £158,000 (£870 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

20192020202120222023202420252026
Revenue reserve £193,000£209,000£220,000£192,000£182,000£136,000£212,000£158,000
per pupil £917£1,048£1,080£954£922£675£1,158£870
In-year balance £12,000£16,000£12,000-£28,000-£10,000-£46,000£76,000-£54,000
per pupil £57£81£57-£142-£52-£229£417-£295

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

Name Distance
Goodrich CofE Primary School
Goodrich, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6HY
1.58 miles
St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery
The Avenue, Walford Road, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 5AW
1.63 miles
Ashfield Park Primary School
Redhill Road, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 5AU
1.71 miles
Bridstow CofE Primary School
Bridstow, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6PZ
2.31 miles
Brampton Abbotts CofE Primary School
Brampton Road, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 7FX
2.61 miles
Ruardean Church of England Primary School
School Road, Ruardean, Gloucestershire, GL17 9XQ
2.79 miles
Weston-under-Penyard CofE Primary School
School Lane, Weston-under-Penyard, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 7PA
2.86 miles
English Bicknor Church of England Primary School
English Bicknor, Coleford, Gloucestershire, GL16 7PG
3.31 miles
Whitchurch CofE Primary School
Whitchurch, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6DA
3.31 miles
Lydbrook Primary School
School Road, Lydbrook Primary School, Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, GL17 9PX
3.51 miles
Woodside Primary School
Denehurst, Ruardean Woodside, Ruardean, Gloucestershire, GL17 9XP
3.54 miles
Lea CofE Primary School
Lea, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 7JY
3.93 miles
Drybrook Primary School
Drybrook Road, Drybrook, Gloucestershire, GL17 9JF
3.94 miles
Llangrove CE Academy
Llangrove, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6EZ
4.23 miles
Steam Mills Primary School
Steam Mills, Cinderford, Gloucestershire, GL14 3JD
4.56 miles
Mitcheldean Endowed Primary School
Hawker Hill, Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, GL17 0BS
4.64 miles
Name Distance
John Kyrle High School and Sixth Form Centre Academy
Ledbury Road, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 7ET
2.7 miles
Dene Magna and Sixth Form
Abenhall Road, Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, GL17 0DU
4.98 miles

All schools in Ross-On-Wye · Herefordshire, County of local authority: places and applications

What is Walford Nursery & Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Walford Nursery & Primary School is Outstanding, from an inspection in September 2024.

When was Walford Nursery & Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Walford Nursery & Primary School was last inspected in September 2024.

How many pupils does Walford Nursery & Primary School have?

Walford Nursery & Primary School has 182 pupils on roll.

What age range does Walford Nursery & Primary School cover?

Walford Nursery & Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Walford Nursery & Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 84% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Walford Nursery & Primary School?

Walford Nursery & Primary School is at Walford, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 5SA.

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