Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School

Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School is a happy, inclusive primary school where pupils enjoy learning and feel safe. Inspectors found a well-balanced curriculum from Reception, high expectations and strong outcomes, especially in reading, writing and mathematics by Year 6. Behaviour is positive, relationships are warm, and pupils benefit from responsibilities, clubs, trips and community activities. The school is well led, with governors holding leaders to account and staff morale high. Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is particularly strong, and pupils with SEND achieve well. Phonics is well taught and reading is promoted widely. Attendance is monitored closely and leaders work tenaciously with families and external agencies. Safeguarding is effective. The main area for improvement is that in some foundation subjects, key knowledge is not defined clearly enough. This means staff are less confident checking what pupils have learned, and pupils can move on with gaps in their knowledge. The school should clarify curriculum expectations so that teaching and assessment close those gaps. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and leadership has changed since the previous inspection.

Strengths

• Well-balanced curriculum from Reception with high expectations for all pupils
• Strong pupil achievement, including high Year 6 attainment in reading, writing and mathematics
• Warm staff-pupil relationships that help pupils feel safe and happy
• Highly skilled identification and support for pupils with SEND
• Effective phonics teaching and a strong culture of reading
• Good behaviour and routines, with pupils taking responsibilities seriously
• Rich personal development through clubs, trips, performances and community links
• Strong leadership and governance with high staff morale
• Close attendance monitoring and tenacious work with families and agencies
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Key knowledge is not clearly identified in some foundation subjects beyond English and mathematics
• Staff are less confident in checking pupils' understanding in those subjects
• Pupils can have gaps in knowledge before moving on to new learning

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 Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.8% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Guildhall Feoffment Community 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 Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School had 19.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.0% 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, 11.0% of pupils at Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.8% 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 Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School received £6,694 and spent £6,760 for each of its 328 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £383,000 (£1,167 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 Bury St Edmunds · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

What is Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School have?

Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School has 328 pupils on roll.

What age range does Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School cover?

Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School?

Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School is at Bridewell Lane, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 1RE.