Ickleford Primary School

Ickleford Primary School is a Church of England primary school in the Diocese of St Albans. Inspectors found it performing strongly across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing, with safeguarding standards met. Pupils achieve highly, especially in reading and mathematics, behave exceptionally well and attend very well. The curriculum is broad, ambitious and regularly updated, teaching is consistently strong, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified quickly and supported effectively. Early years provision is high quality, and leadership, staff development and governance are notable strengths. Writing is the main area for further work. Pupils are making rapid progress through a newer writing curriculum and standards have risen, but national assessment outcomes do not yet reflect this improvement and writing is not yet as strong as reading and mathematics. Leaders are asked to continue raising attainment in writing. The report also notes a change in the leadership team since the previous inspection and that the school serves 213 pupils, with below-average proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve highly across the curriculum, with rapid progress including for pupils with SEND.
• Reading and mathematics outcomes are strong, with fluent readers and confident mathematicians.
• Writing standards are rising rapidly through the school's newer writing curriculum.
• Pupils behave exceptionally well, bullying is rare and disruption to learning is rare.
• Attendance is high and improving, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and reviewed and updated promptly.
• Teaching is consistently highly effective, with strong subject knowledge and skilful checking of understanding.
• Early years provision is consistently high quality and prepares children well for Year 1.
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and receive well-tailored support.
• Personal development is carefully planned, including diversity, wellbeing and online safety.
• Leadership, staff professional development and governance are strong.
• Safeguarding standards are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' writing attainment, particularly in national assessments, has not yet caught up with their strong reading and mathematics outcomes.

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 Ickleford Primary School attended 96.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.7% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Ickleford 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 Ickleford Primary School had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.1% 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, 9.9% of pupils at Ickleford Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.9% 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 Ickleford Primary School received £6,328 and spent £6,188 for each of its 213 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £67,000 (£315 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 Hitchin · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Ickleford Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ickleford Primary School is Strong standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Ickleford Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ickleford Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Ickleford Primary School have?

Ickleford Primary School has 213 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ickleford Primary School cover?

Ickleford Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ickleford Primary School?

Ickleford Primary School is at Arlesey Road, Ickleford, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 3TG.