Croyland Primary School

Croyland Primary School is a larger-than-average primary in an area of above-average deprivation, with high proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with EHC plans, plus resourced provision for eight pupils with autism. The inspection found safeguarding standards met and most areas of provision performing at the expected standard, including curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Leaders have built a broad, caring and inclusive school that parents strongly support, and pupils feel safe and behave well. The main concerns are achievement and attendance. Pupils' achievement varies, and a significant minority do not read or understand mathematics as well as they need to. Writing is inconsistent because some pupils do not apply punctuation or letter formation accurately, and errors are not always picked up. Strategies to close gaps are not applied consistently. Attendance remains too high, with persistent absence well above national averages, although recent actions are beginning to make a difference. Leaders also need to evaluate the impact of their actions more precisely, and governors need to provide more robust challenge.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
• Leaders have designed a broad curriculum that teachers understand and value.
• Phonics is typically taught well, and most pupils learn to decode simple texts.
• Pupils with SEND are well included and benefit from appropriate lesson adjustments.
• Early years children settle quickly and are well supported, including those with SEND.
• Leaders identify additional needs quickly and provide well-targeted support.
• Disadvantaged pupils have access to enriching opportunities and help to close gaps.
• Leadership is ambitious, improvement-focused, and staff feel valued and supported.
• Governors understand their safeguarding duties and are highly supportive of leaders.
• Personal development and pastoral support are thoughtful and effective.
• Pupils feel safe, behave well, and classrooms are calm and purposeful.
• Parental support is high, with families valuing the school's approachability and care.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement varies, and a significant minority do not read or understand mathematics as well as they need to.
• Some pupils do not use punctuation or letter formation accurately, and mistakes are not always spotted.
• Expectations for writing are not yet consistent across the curriculum.
• Strategies to close gaps in pupils' knowledge are not applied consistently.
• Attendance remains too low, with persistent absence well above national averages.
• Leaders do not yet check the impact of their improvement actions precisely enough.
• Governor challenge is not yet robust enough.
• New approaches to writing are not as deeply embedded as other curriculum areas.
• Not all early years pupils benefit fully from adults' explanations of letter formation and pencil grip.

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 Croyland Primary School attended 91.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 24.0% 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, 2.7% of pupils at Croyland 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 Croyland Primary School had 17.5 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, 12.1% of pupils at Croyland Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.6% 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 Croyland Primary School received £7,801 and spent £7,704 for each of its 414 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £104,000 (£252 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
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All schools in Wellingborough · North Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

What is Croyland Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Croyland Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Croyland Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Croyland Primary School have?

Croyland Primary School has 414 pupils on roll.

What age range does Croyland Primary School cover?

Croyland Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

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

In 2025, 55% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Croyland Primary School?

Croyland Primary School is at Croyland Road, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN8 2AX.