Magdalen Gates Primary School

Magdalen Gates Primary School is a maintained primary school with 198 pupils, currently led by interim co-headteachers who have been in post since September 2024. Inspectors found a happy, orderly and welcoming school where pupils attend regularly, behave well and take pride in their community. Leaders have successfully guided the school through a period of change, reviewing the curriculum, training staff and taking account of workload and well-being. Pupils achieve well across a range of subjects and benefit from strong pastoral care. The school's strengths include a well-structured and ambitious curriculum in most subjects, effective phonics and reading provision, calm and purposeful classrooms, and a personal development programme that helps pupils understand respect, consent, equality and healthy choices. Early years provision builds a solid foundation and prepares children well for Year 1. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main area for improvement is in some foundation subjects, where teaching does not routinely help pupils remember and apply the key knowledge intended. This leaves gaps in pupils' knowledge and understanding. The school needs to ensure the curriculum is implemented effectively in these subjects and that teaching addresses those gaps.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, polite, confident and well-behaved.
• Pupils attend regularly and take pride in being part of the school community.
• The curriculum is well structured and ambitious in most subjects.
• Teachers set high expectations and pupils achieve well across a range of subjects.
• Phonics is taught from the start, with carefully selected books and daily reading practice.
• Pupils enjoy reading and see themselves reflected in the books they read.
• Staff have strong subject knowledge and teaching is effective in most subjects.
• Early years provision builds a solid foundation and prepares children well for Year 1.
• Classrooms are calm and purposeful, and playtimes are enjoyable.
• The personal development programme helps pupils understand consent, respect, tolerance and equality.
• Leaders have managed change well and considered staff workload and well-being.
• High-quality pastoral care helps pupils be ready and able to learn.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some foundation subjects, teaching does not routinely help pupils remember and use the key knowledge intended.
• Gaps remain in pupils' knowledge and understanding in some foundation subjects.
• Curriculum implementation in these foundation subjects needs to be more effective at addressing gaps in pupils' knowledge.

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 Magdalen Gates Primary School attended 93.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.8% 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, 2.9% of pupils at Magdalen Gates Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Magdalen Gates Primary School had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.1% 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, 14.9% of pupils at Magdalen Gates Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.2% 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 Magdalen Gates Primary School received £7,835 and spent £7,698 for each of its 193 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £143,000 (£743 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 Norwich · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

What is Magdalen Gates Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Magdalen Gates Primary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Magdalen Gates Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Magdalen Gates Primary School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Magdalen Gates Primary School have?

Magdalen Gates Primary School has 194 pupils on roll.

What age range does Magdalen Gates Primary School cover?

Magdalen Gates Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 62% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Magdalen Gates Primary School?

Magdalen Gates Primary School is at Bull Close Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1NG.