Bilton Infant School

Bilton Infant School is a small, inclusive infant school that inspectors found to be performing at the expected standard overall. Safeguarding is met, and pupils describe a nurturing, welcoming community where they feel safe and respected. Behaviour is calm and orderly, relationships are strong, and parents are highly complimentary about the school. The school is part of Bilton Community Federation, and its proportion of pupils with SEN support is above average. The school's main strengths lie in its ambitious curriculum, effective phonics teaching, and highly positive early years provision. Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, make steady progress from their starting points and are well prepared for the next stage of education. Inclusion is a clear strength, with carefully designed support and reasonable adjustments helping pupils participate fully. Personal development and pastoral support are also strong, with a wide range of enrichment, leadership roles and wellbeing support. The main area needing attention is attendance. Overall absence and persistent absence remain above national averages, and some pupils still miss too much learning and wider school experiences, although leaders' actions are beginning to improve attendance. Inspectors also noted that staff do not always check pupils' understanding carefully enough, so some misconceptions are not addressed consistently. Next steps focus on strengthening attendance systems and ensuring all staff can check understanding and address errors swiftly.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive ethos with a relationship-focused approach that creates belonging for all pupils.
• Pupils feel safe, valued and well supported in a nurturing school environment.
• Early years provision gives children a highly positive and effective start to their education.
• Effective phonics teaching with targeted support helps pupils build secure foundations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• An ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum enables pupils to build knowledge, skills and vocabulary over time.
• Strong leadership and governance, with governors holding leaders to account while prioritising wellbeing.
• Effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, including reasonable adjustments and tailored interventions.
• Pastoral support is a strength, helping pupils regulate behaviour and build confidence.
• A thoughtful personal development programme with trips, clubs, leadership roles and safety education.
• Calm and orderly behaviour, with positive attitudes to learning and pupils confident that bullying would be addressed.
• Positive relationships with parents and carers, who value the school's caring and nurturing ethos.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture in which concerns are actively identified and managed.

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance remains below national averages, and persistent absence is above national averages.
• Some pupils still miss too much school and therefore miss important learning and wider experiences.
• In some lessons, staff do not check pupils' understanding carefully enough, so errors and misconceptions are not addressed consistently.
• Leaders should continue strengthening systems to identify and reduce barriers to attendance, especially for persistently absent pupils.
• Leaders should ensure all staff have the skills to check understanding, including in pupils' work, and address misconceptions swiftly and accurately.

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 Bilton Infant School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.1% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Bilton Infant 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 Bilton Infant School had 24.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 29.6% 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, 16.9% of pupils at Bilton Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.6% 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 Bilton Infant School received £9,388 and spent £9,506 for each of its 124 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £84,000 (-£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).

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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Rugby · Warwickshire local authority: places and applications

What is Bilton Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bilton Infant School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Bilton Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bilton Infant School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Bilton Infant School have?

Bilton Infant School has 124 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bilton Infant School cover?

Bilton Infant School for pupils aged 4 to 7.

Where is Bilton Infant School?

Bilton Infant School is at Magnet Lane, Bilton, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV22 7NH.