Cottam Primary School

Cottam Primary School is a happy, safe and well-run primary school where pupils build strong relationships with staff and take on helpful roles such as reading with younger children or acting as safeguarding champions. Inspectors found high expectations across the school, with pupils typically remembering their learning well and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities achieving successfully alongside their peers. Behaviour is good, children in the Reception Year settle quickly into routines, and unwanted behaviour rarely disrupts learning. The curriculum has been improved to be broad and ambitious, and reading is a clear priority. Teachers generally have strong subject knowledge and check pupils' progress well in most subjects. Personal development is promoted well through leadership roles, visits, clubs and lessons about safety, mental health and healthy relationships. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, staff workload and well-being are considered carefully, and governors know the school well. This was a graded inspection, and under the arrangements for inspections from September 2024 the school did not receive an overall effectiveness grade; its previous inspection grade was good. There are two main areas for improvement. In a small number of subjects, older pupils have gaps in knowledge because of weaknesses in the previous curriculum, and teachers do not always check routinely that pupils have the prior knowledge needed for new learning. In addition, a very small minority of pupils at the earliest stages of reading do not always receive effective support to close gaps in their phonics knowledge and catch up with their peers.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, safe and build strong relationships with staff
• Pupils take on roles that help others, including reading with younger children and acting as safeguarding champions
• The school has high expectations for all pupils
• Pupils typically remember their learning well and grow in confidence
• Pupils with SEND achieve well and participate fully in school life
• Pupils are well behaved and demonstrate good manners
• Children in the Reception Year settle quickly into routines
• Unwanted behaviour rarely disrupts learning, creating a calm and productive environment
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and clearly sets out knowledge and skills from Reception to Year 6
• Teachers typically have strong subject knowledge and choose activities that meet pupils' needs
• Reading is a priority and staff are well trained to deliver the phonics programme
• Most pupils become confident and fluent readers by the end of key stage 1
• Leaders promote pupils' personal development well through leadership roles, visits and clubs
• Pupils learn how to stay safe online, look after their mental health and build healthy relationships
• The school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain
• Staff workload and well-being are considered carefully
• Governors know the school well and provide meaningful support and challenge
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Older pupils have gaps in knowledge in a few subjects because of weaknesses in the previous curriculum
• In some subjects, teachers do not routinely check that pupils have the prior knowledge needed for new learning
• Some pupils' knowledge in a few subjects is not as secure as it could be
• A very small minority of pupils at the earliest stages of reading struggle to read fluently
• Support to close phonics knowledge gaps is sometimes not effective in helping pupils catch up
• Staff do not always have the necessary skills to address gaps in pupils' phonics knowledge quickly

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 Cottam Primary School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.3% 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, 1.1% of pupils at Cottam 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 Cottam Primary School had 23.8 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, 11.7% of pupils at Cottam Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% 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 Cottam Primary School received £6,173 and spent £6,216 for each of its 308 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £27,000 (£87 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 Preston · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Cottam Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cottam Primary School is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was Cottam Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cottam Primary School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Cottam Primary School have?

Cottam Primary School has 308 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cottam Primary School cover?

Cottam Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 45% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cottam Primary School?

Cottam Primary School is at Haydocks Lane, Cottam, Preston, Lancashire, PR4 0NY.