Harwell Primary School

Harwell Primary School is performing strongly overall. It is a warm and caring school where pupils feel happy and safe, attend very well and behave calmly in lessons and at social times. Inspectors highlighted strong standards in attendance and behaviour and in early years, where children thrive, language and communication are prioritised, and phonics and mathematics are taught precisely. Safeguarding standards are met. The school’s personal development, achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance are all at the expected standard. Pupils benefit from a broad enrichment offer, including clubs, trips and pastoral support, and outcomes are broadly in line with national averages. However, the report identifies areas to refine: staff do not always use checks of understanding to adapt teaching promptly, foundational writing needs more consistent gap-closing, and new curriculum and teaching approaches need further embedding so activities precisely match intended learning. Recent 2024/25 data also shows writing and mathematics outcomes below national averages and a wide gap for disadvantaged pupils in that year. Contextually, Harwell Primary is a smaller-than-average primary school with below-average free school meals eligibility but a well-above-average proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans. Leaders work with the local authority, governors provide effective support and challenge, and staff feel well supported. Parents value the school’s family feel and wider opportunities. The next steps focus on addressing gaps in knowledge quickly, especially in foundational writing, and embedding curriculum changes so more pupils deepen their knowledge over time.

Strengths

• High attendance and a calm, orderly behaviour culture
• Pupils feel happy, safe and positive about learning
• Strong early years provision with purposeful play and language development
• Precise phonics and mathematics teaching in the early years
• Swift identification and effective support for pupils with SEND
• Broad personal development programme with clubs, trips and pastoral support
• Pupils achieve broadly in line with national averages
• Effective leadership and governance with strong staff support
• Parents value the school's family feel and wider opportunities
• Safeguarding arrangements are met and pupils feel safe

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching checks are not consistently used to adapt work to pupils' emerging needs
• Foundational writing skills need more consistent and rapid gap-closing
• New curriculum and teaching approaches need further embedding so activities precisely match intended learning
• Some 2024/25 outcomes in writing and mathematics were below national averages
• Disadvantaged pupils' 2024/25 outcomes showed a wide gap, particularly in writing and mathematics

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 Harwell Primary School attended 96.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.8% 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, 1.4% of pupils at Harwell 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 Harwell Primary School had 22.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.8% 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, 13.8% of pupils at Harwell Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.1% 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 Harwell Primary School received £7,401 and spent £7,236 for each of its 210 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £118,000 (£564 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 Didcot · Oxfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Harwell Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Harwell Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Harwell Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Harwell Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Harwell Primary School have?

Harwell Primary School has 210 pupils on roll.

What age range does Harwell Primary School cover?

Harwell Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

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

Where is Harwell Primary School?

Harwell Primary School is at The Styles, Harwell, Didcot, OX11 0HX.