Upper Beeding Primary School

Upper Beeding Primary is a welcoming, nurturing school where pupils are happy, safe, proud of their school and attend regularly. This was its first routine inspection since the pandemic and its first since being exempt as an outstanding school; under current arrangements it receives no overall effectiveness grade. It is judged good for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management, with outstanding early years provision. The school has many strengths. It has high expectations, a calm and purposeful environment, and an ambitious curriculum in most subjects. Reading and phonics are taught well, mathematics has improved decisively after lower published outcomes in 2024, SEND identification and support are robust, and early years provision is exceptional. Pupils benefit from a rich wider curriculum and strong personal development, and safeguarding is effective. The main area for improvement is that in some subjects the school has not identified clearly enough the important knowledge and skills it wants pupils to learn and remember. In those subjects, the curriculum is delivered less effectively and pupils do not build or deepen their knowledge as well over time. The school should ensure that all subjects set out essential content clearly and deliver it consistently.

Strengths

• Warm, nurturing relationships and a welcoming culture reflect the school values of teamwork, kindness, curiosity and creativity.
• Pupils are happy, safe, proud of their school and attend regularly.
• High expectations and good behaviour create a calm and purposeful learning environment.
• Staff respond calmly and sensitively to pupils' emotional needs, helping them return to learning quickly.
• An ambitious curriculum clearly identifies key knowledge and vocabulary in most subjects.
• Leaders took decisive action after lower 2024 mathematics outcomes, improving number fluency and calculation strategies.
• Phonics and early reading are taught skilfully, with well-matched books and strong support for pupils at risk of falling behind.
• SEND identification and support are robust, including effective use of external agencies.
• Early years provision is exceptional, particularly in personal, social and emotional development and early reading, writing and mathematics.
• Rich wider experiences, including sport, visits, residential trips and music, develop pupils' interests, confidence and leadership.
• Pupils show respect for diversity and have a secure understanding of healthy relationships.
• Staff are proud to work at the school, governors provide effective support and challenge, and parents value the close-knit family feel.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, the school has not identified clearly enough the knowledge and skills pupils should know and remember.
• In those subjects, the curriculum is not delivered as effectively, so pupils do not build or deepen their knowledge as well over time.

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 Upper Beeding Primary School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.2% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Upper Beeding 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 Upper Beeding Primary School had 23.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 16.8% of pupils at Upper Beeding Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 Upper Beeding Primary School received £6,270 and spent £6,146 for each of its 298 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £59,000 (£197 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 Horsham · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

What is Upper Beeding Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Upper Beeding Primary School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Upper Beeding Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Upper Beeding Primary School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Upper Beeding Primary School have?

Upper Beeding Primary School has 298 pupils on roll.

What age range does Upper Beeding Primary School cover?

Upper Beeding Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 61% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Upper Beeding Primary School?

Upper Beeding Primary School is at School Road, Upper Beeding, Steyning, West Sussex, BN44 3HY.