Midhurst CofE Primary School

Midhurst CofE Primary School is a highly inclusive school where pupils feel safe, behave well and benefit from exceptional personal development and strong pastoral support. Reading is a clear priority and most pupils become confident, fluent readers by the end of Year 2, while early years provision is good and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Leaders have acted with urgency to address a decline in standards, and they have made changes while being mindful of staff workload and well-being. However, the quality of education and leadership and management require improvement. The curriculum is not fully developed in several subjects, essential knowledge is not clear enough to teachers, and staff do not consistently check whether pupils have remembered what has been taught. As a result, some pupils, including pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, have gaps in their knowledge and do not achieve as well as they should. Pupils with SEND sometimes lack opportunities to apply and extend their thinking. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, following a previous inspection graded good and weak published outcomes in 2024. The governing body carries out its statutory duties diligently but has not had a secure grasp of the quality of the curriculum; recent changes to monitoring are beginning to improve this.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive school where pupils feel safe and staff listen to them
• Pupils behave well and learning is rarely disrupted
• Personal development is exceptional, with wide clubs and leadership roles
• Strong pastoral and nurture support contributes to strong and improving attendance
• Reading is prioritised and most pupils become confident, fluent readers by the end of Year 2
• Effective approaches identify the additional needs of pupils with SEND
• Early years provision is good, with strong routines and stronger curriculum delivery
• Leaders have shown urgency in halting the decline in standards
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Pupils engage fully in lessons and show a strong sense of right and wrong

Areas for Improvement

• The curriculum is not fully developed in several subjects
• Essential knowledge is not clear enough to teachers in some subjects
• Teachers do not consistently check pupils' understanding and address knowledge gaps
• Some pupils, including pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, achieve less well than they should
• Pupils with SEND sometimes lack opportunities to apply and extend their knowledge
• Published outcomes in 2024 were weak
• The governing body has not had a secure grasp of curriculum quality
• Leadership and management require improvement

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 Midhurst CofE Primary School attended 96.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.3% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Midhurst CofE 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 Midhurst CofE Primary School had 20.2 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, 14.2% of pupils at Midhurst CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.6% 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 Midhurst CofE Primary School received £7,541 and spent £7,456 for each of its 183 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £145,000 (£795 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 Chichester · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

What is Midhurst CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Midhurst CofE Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Midhurst CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Midhurst CofE Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Midhurst CofE Primary School have?

Midhurst CofE Primary School has 183 pupils on roll.

What age range does Midhurst CofE Primary School cover?

Midhurst CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Midhurst CofE Primary School?

Midhurst CofE Primary School is at Ashfield Road, Midhurst, West Sussex, GU29 9JX.