Merrydale Infant School

Merrydale Infant School demonstrates a strong commitment to providing a welcoming and supportive environment for its pupils, who express high levels of happiness and safety while attending. The school is ambitious for all students to excel, and many participate in diverse extracurricular activities. The curriculum is well-constructed, especially in its early years, effectively preparing children for their subsequent years of education. However, the school faces challenges with attendance, as some pupils are regularly absent, which hinders their overall academic achievement. Overall, the school's performance is noted as good across various domains, continuing from its previous inspection.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and feel safe at school.
• Strong pastoral support fosters a caring environment.
• The curriculum is well-organized and coherent from early years onwards.
• Reading is prioritized and effectively taught from the Reception Year.
• Staff build warm relationships with pupils, enhancing their learning experience.
• The school has made significant improvements in its curriculum development.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils have gaps in learning due to insufficient revisiting of previous knowledge.
• Too many pupils are regularly absent, impacting their learning opportunities.

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 Merrydale Infant School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.0% 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, 0.3% of pupils at Merrydale Infant 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 Merrydale Infant School had 21.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.8% 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, 11.1% of pupils at Merrydale Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% 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 Merrydale Infant School received £7,587 and spent £7,489 for each of its 302 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £99,000 (-£328 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 Leicester · Leicester local authority: places and applications

What is Merrydale Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Merrydale Infant School is Good, from an inspection in January 2024.

When was Merrydale Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Merrydale Infant School was last inspected in January 2024.

How many pupils does Merrydale Infant School have?

Merrydale Infant School has 334 pupils on roll.

What age range does Merrydale Infant School cover?

Merrydale Infant School for pupils aged 3 to 7.

Where is Merrydale Infant School?

Merrydale Infant School is at Claydon Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 0PL.