North Petherton Primary School

North Petherton Primary School demonstrates a strong standard of education, with notable strengths in safeguarding, attendance, and personal development programmes. The school effectively fosters relationships with families and implements a proactive strategy to maintain attendance in line with national averages. The well-structured personal development programme offers a variety of extracurricular activities, which help students to engage positively and develop their interests. However, the school is emerging from a period of leadership instability, and while there are signs of improvement, there are still areas that require attention, particularly in curriculum delivery for younger pupils and addressing gaps in knowledge and teaching methods.

Strengths

• Strong safeguarding culture ensures pupils feel safe and supported.
• High priority given to attendance, resulting in rates in line with national averages.
• Effective personal development programme with diverse extracurricular activities.
• Pupils generally demonstrate positive behaviour and respect towards others.
• School provides tailored pastoral support for pupils struggling with behaviour.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistencies in curriculum delivery, especially in key stage 1.
• Some pupils struggle with basic number facts and sentence structure.
• Lack of a consistent approach to teaching handwriting and letter formation.
• Variable teaching methods lead to gaps in pupils' knowledge and understanding.
• Early years curriculum is not ambitious enough for a successful transition.

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 North Petherton Primary School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.3% 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, 0.0% of pupils at North Petherton 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 North Petherton Primary School had 21.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.9% 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, 12.7% of pupils at North Petherton 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 North Petherton Primary School received £6,580 and spent £6,652 for each of its 409 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £494,000 (£1,209 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 Bridgwater · Somerset local authority: places and applications

What is North Petherton Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for North Petherton Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in March 2026.

When was North Petherton Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

North Petherton Primary School was last inspected in March 2026.

How many pupils does North Petherton Primary School have?

North Petherton Primary School has 409 pupils on roll.

What age range does North Petherton Primary School cover?

North Petherton Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is North Petherton Primary School?

North Petherton Primary School is at School Fields, North Petherton, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA6 6LU.