Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is performing well, achieving a 'Good' grade in its recent inspection. The school has made notable progress since its last inspection, moving from a 'Requires Improvement' status. Leaders and staff have created a positive learning environment where pupils feel excited about school and are proud of their community. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with a strong emphasis on key knowledge that prepares pupils for future education. Overall, the community is supportive and engaged, with parents expressing high levels of satisfaction with the education provided. Despite the overall success, there are areas for improvement. Some subjects have newly implemented curricula, which has resulted in gaps in knowledge retention for pupils. Additionally, there are concerns regarding the application of spelling and grammar skills as well as variable handwriting quality among some pupils. Leaders are aware of these challenges and are actively working to address them, aiming to ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to apply their learning effectively across different subjects.

Strengths

• Leaders and staff foster a positive school community.
• Pupils exhibit high levels of enthusiasm and motivation for learning.
• A broad and ambitious curriculum is effectively sequenced.
• Pupils demonstrate good behaviour and manners.
• Positive relationships among pupils foster a caring environment.
• Strong support for special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) students.

Areas for Improvement

• Some subjects have new curricula leading to gaps in knowledge retention.
• Inconsistent application of spelling and grammar skills in written work.
• Variable quality of handwriting among some pupils.

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 Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School attended 96.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.1% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided 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 Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School had 16.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 10.9% of pupils at Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.7% 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 Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School received £6,822 and spent £6,658 for each of its 119 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £81,000 (£677 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 Bedale · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

What is Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School have?

Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School has 119 pupils on roll.

What age range does Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School cover?

Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School?

Burneston Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is at Burneston, Bedale, North Yorkshire, DL8 2HX.