St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School

St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School continues to demonstrate a good standard of education, fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for its pupils. With a strong and ambitious curriculum, the school emphasizes high expectations from early years onwards, allowing all pupils, including those with special educational needs, to achieve well. Pupils enjoy a variety of extracurricular activities that enrich their learning experience and are supported by caring teachers who make learning enjoyable. The school is committed to developing relationships and understanding among its diverse pupil population, as reflected in positive parental feedback about the school's inclusive nature. Despite the positive performance, the school faces challenges in ensuring that all pupils attend regularly. A minority struggle with consistent attendance, which may hinder their learning. Additionally, there are concerns that the targeted support for weaker readers is not sufficiently effective. The school leadership is aware of these issues and has begun implementing plans to strengthen the curriculum and improve attendance rates, suggesting a proactive approach to continuous improvement.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive school environment
• Excellent extracurricular activities supporting pupil development
• Strong and ambitious curriculum with high expectations
• Caring and dedicated teaching staff
• Effective relationships between adults and pupils
• Prioritization of reading and good early reading strategies
• Strong sense of belonging among pupils

Areas for Improvement

• Targeted support for weaker readers is not effective enough
• Minority of pupils do not attend regularly enough

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 St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School attended 94.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.9% 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, 0.5% of pupils at St Barnabas CofE VA 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 St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School had 21.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.4% 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, 15.4% of pupils at St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.0% 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 St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School received £7,528 and spent £7,493 for each of its 201 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £25,000 (£123 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 Tunbridge Wells · Kent local authority: places and applications

What is St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School is Good, from an inspection in February 2024.

When was St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School was last inspected in February 2024.

How many pupils does St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School have?

St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School has 201 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School cover?

St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School?

St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School is at Quarry Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 2EY.