Earl Spencer Primary School

Earl Spencer Primary School is a friendly, welcoming community primary school where pupils try hard to meet high behaviour expectations and show kindness and respect. The school provides strong pastoral support, with pupils’ mental health and well-being given high priority, and pupils benefit from meaningful leadership roles such as school councillors, sports ambassadors and language ambassadors. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and governors hold leaders to account while also taking staff workload and well-being seriously. The curriculum is ambitious and under constant review, with reading a clear priority. A new phonics programme is taught consistently, pupils receive sufficient practice, and those who need extra support catch up well, so achievement in reading is improving. Leaders have also made considerable changes to teaching and early years practice, with language development prioritised from the start. However, the inspection found that some improvements are not yet fully embedded, particularly in how the curriculum is assessed and how prior learning is revisited. Inspectors identified three main areas for improvement. In some recently reviewed subjects, checking of pupils’ learning is not fully established, so gaps in knowledge are not always identified and addressed. Teaching improvements are not yet consistently embedded, with important vocabulary sometimes not emphasised clearly enough and insufficient opportunities for pupils to revisit prior learning. In addition, curriculum adaptations for pupils with SEND are not precise enough and often rely on adult support, and not all staff yet have sufficient expertise to adapt the curriculum so that pupils can learn independently. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was inspected under the current framework in which no overall effectiveness grade is given.

Strengths

• Pupils are friendly, welcoming, polite and behave well in lessons and around school.
• The school provides a very supportive environment that prioritises pupils’ mental health and well-being.
• Pupils benefit from a range of leadership opportunities that build responsibility and contribution to school life.
• The curriculum is ambitious and recently refined to better meet pupils’ needs, including in early years.
• Reading is a priority, with a well-taught phonics programme and effective support for pupils who need to catch up.
• Children’s language development is prioritised from the start in early years, with staff modelling and enriching vocabulary.
• Pupils develop positive attitudes to learning and most attend school regularly.
• Personal development provision is well considered, including safety education and understanding of British values and different cultures.
• Governors carry out their statutory duties effectively and hold leaders to account.
• Staff feel valued, and leaders consider workload and professional development well.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Processes for checking pupils’ learning in some recently reviewed subjects are not fully established.
• Gaps in pupils’ knowledge are sometimes not identified or addressed effectively.
• Recent curriculum teaching improvements, including in early years, are not fully embedded.
• Important vocabulary is occasionally not emphasised clearly enough.
• Pupils have had insufficient opportunities over time to revisit prior learning.
• Some pupils lack confidence or language to explain their learning in detail, and knowledge in some subjects is variable.
• Curriculum adaptations for pupils with SEND are not precise enough and often rely on adult support.
• Not all staff have sufficient expertise to adapt the curriculum effectively.
• Pupils are not consistently supported to learn with independence.

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 Earl Spencer Primary School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.2% 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, 4.6% of pupils at Earl Spencer 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 Earl Spencer Primary School had 16.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.2% 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, 20.5% of pupils at Earl Spencer Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.8% 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 Earl Spencer Primary School received £8,365 and spent £8,088 for each of its 352 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £271,000 (£769 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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All schools in Northampton · West Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

What is Earl Spencer Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Earl Spencer Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Earl Spencer Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Earl Spencer Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Earl Spencer Primary School have?

Earl Spencer Primary School has 352 pupils on roll.

What age range does Earl Spencer Primary School cover?

Earl Spencer Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

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

Where is Earl Spencer Primary School?

Earl Spencer Primary School is at Streatfield Road, Spencer Estate, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN5 7DE.