Eldon Primary School

Eldon Primary School has been through a difficult period but is now moving in the right direction. Inspectors found effective leadership and governance, a much stronger approach to special educational needs and inclusion, and a calm, inclusive culture where pupils feel safe and belong. Most areas of provision meet the expected standard, and safeguarding is met. The school currently has no governing body; an interim board organised by the local authority provides oversight, and an interim headteacher took up post in September 2025. Current pupils are making suitable progress from their starting points, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, and children in the early years are well prepared for Year 1. Personal development is a notable strength, with pupils learning about respect, safety, British values and responsibility. However, published attainment in 2025 was below average, reflecting earlier weaknesses in leadership and staffing, and it is too soon to see the impact of recent improvements in test results. The main areas for further work are making better use of assessment information to match activities to pupils' needs, especially for pupils with SEND; ensuring early years staff use talk consistently well to develop communication and language; and making sure the recent curriculum and teaching improvements lead to strong attainment for all pupils over time.

Strengths

• Leadership has driven a determined turnaround since the previous inspection
• Governance through the interim board is effective and well informed
• SEND identification and support have been overhauled and are a core strength
• Pupils feel safe, respected and that they belong
• Behaviour is positive and pupils meet leaders' high expectations
• Attendance procedures have been revised and work effectively with the local authority
• Early years provision is supportive, joyful and prepares children well for Year 1
• Phonics teaching is well organised and helps pupils build early reading skills
• Personal development teaches respect, safety, British values and responsibility
• Staff morale is high and leaders consider workload and individual needs
• Leaders communicate well with parents and respond to family needs
• Pupils make suitable progress from their starting points, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND

Areas for Improvement

• Some teaching does not use assessment information effectively enough to match activities to pupils' needs
• Support for pupils with SEND is sometimes less focused on the next steps identified from checks of learning
• Some early years staff do not use talk effectively enough to support communication and language
• Published attainment was below average in 2025, with particularly large gaps for disadvantaged pupils
• It is too soon to see the impact of curriculum and teaching improvements on attainment
• Recent improvements must lead to all pupils attaining well over time
• Persistent absence remains above the national average, although overall absence is close to average

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 Eldon Primary School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.7% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Eldon 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 Eldon Primary School had 20.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.6% 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, 20.9% of pupils at Eldon Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.9% 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 Eldon Primary School received £7,741 and spent £8,250 for each of its 239 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £66,000 (£278 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).

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What is Eldon Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Eldon Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Eldon Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Eldon Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Eldon Primary School have?

Eldon Primary School has 239 pupils on roll.

What age range does Eldon Primary School cover?

Eldon Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 26% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Eldon Primary School?

Eldon Primary School is at Eldon Street, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 7YE.