Choppington Primary School

Choppington Primary School is performing well overall, with inspectors finding good provision across education quality, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years. Pupils are happy, enthusiastic and respectful, and relationships between staff and pupils are warm and caring. The school has high expectations and has made significant curriculum changes that have helped raise achievement, including a marked improvement in provisional key stage 2 outcomes in 2024 after low standards in 2023. Safeguarding is effective. The school's strengths include a strong focus on emotional well-being, effective behaviour systems, well-supported pupils with SEND, and a high priority on reading. Pupils benefit from a broad personal development offer, including trips, clubs, assemblies and well-being sessions, and early years children settle into clear routines and develop independence. Leadership has become more stable after a period of change, staff morale is high, and governors know the school and community well. The main areas for improvement are in the curriculum. In some subjects, the essential knowledge pupils need to learn is not identified clearly enough, so pupils do not learn all they could. In a small number of subjects, assessment approaches are not secure enough to help teachers identify what pupils need to learn next, meaning new learning does not always build fully on what pupils already know. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and leadership and staffing have changed since the previous inspection.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, enthusiastic, respectful and proud of their school
• Staff build warm and caring relationships with pupils
• The school has high expectations and has raised achievement through significant curriculum changes
• Provisional key stage 2 outcomes in 2024 showed marked improvement on 2023
• There is a strong focus on pupils' emotional well-being
• Behaviour systems are effective, classrooms are calm and bullying is rare
• Pupils trust staff to deal with bullying when it is reported
• Reading is a high priority, with effective phonics and a strong reading-for-pleasure culture
• Pupils with SEND are supported well and learn effectively alongside their peers
• Personal development is broad, including trips, clubs, assemblies and well-being sessions
• Early years provision has clear routines and helps children develop independence and social skills
• Leadership is more stable, staff morale is high and training is well designed
• Governors bring useful skills and know the school and community well
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, the essential knowledge pupils need to know is not identified clearly enough
• In a small number of subjects, assessment does not help teachers identify what pupils need to learn next
• Pupils' new learning does not always build fully on their existing 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 Choppington Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.1% 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, 3.6% of pupils at Choppington 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 Choppington Primary School had 25.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.0% 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, 27.5% of pupils at Choppington Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 Choppington Primary School received £9,358 and spent £8,978 for each of its 104 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £267,000 (£2,582 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 Northumberland · Northumberland local authority: places and applications

What is Choppington Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Choppington Primary School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Choppington Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Choppington Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Choppington Primary School have?

Choppington Primary School has 109 pupils on roll.

What age range does Choppington Primary School cover?

Choppington Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

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

Where is Choppington Primary School?

Choppington Primary School is at Eastgate, Choppington, Northumberland, NE62 5RR.