Bushmead Primary School

Bushmead Primary School is a happy, nurturing community primary where staff and pupils have warm relationships and pupils feel safe and respected. Inspectors found good provision across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, reading is a clear strength, behaviour is managed well, attendance is a priority, and staff feel supported. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Warm, good-humoured relationships between staff and pupils
• Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning
• Broad and ambitious curriculum from the early years
• Strong reading culture and effective early reading support
• Nurture provision helps pupils build resilience and engagement
• Personal development enriched through trips, clubs and community events
• Leaders support staff well and governors provide effective challenge
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Attendance and punctuality are monitored carefully

Areas for Improvement

• Staff do not consistently check what pupils have learned, so knowledge gaps are missed
• Some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready
• Some pupils receive reading books that do not match the sounds they have learned
• In-class support for pupils with SEND is not always effective
• Resources and activities for pupils with SEND do not always precisely match their needs
• Some activities for pupils with SEND are not broken down into small enough steps

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 Bushmead Primary School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.5% 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, 1.8% of pupils at Bushmead 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 Bushmead Primary School had 18.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 2.9% 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, 12.9% of pupils at Bushmead Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.6% 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 Bushmead Primary School received £6,753 and spent £6,931 for each of its 380 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £74,000 (-£195 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 St Neots · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

What is Bushmead Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Bushmead Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bushmead Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Bushmead Primary School have?

Bushmead Primary School has 380 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bushmead Primary School cover?

Bushmead Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bushmead Primary School?

Bushmead Primary School is at Bushmead Road, Eaton Socon, St Neots, Cambridgeshire, PE19 8BT.