King's Caple Primary Academy

King’s Caple Primary Academy is a small, welcoming school where pupils are proud to learn and describe the school as being like one big family. Inspectors found strong community relationships, highly positive attitudes to learning and exemplary behaviour. Pupils achieve well, are well prepared for secondary school, and benefit from a broad, exciting curriculum that has been carefully adapted for mixed-age classes. The school’s work on foundational skills is a notable strength: pupils become fluent and confident readers, strong mathematicians and accomplished writers. Personal development is also well supported through trips, sporting events, cultural experiences and pupil voice, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Staff are well supported by the trust, and leaders engage successfully with parents. There are two main areas for improvement. In a small number of subjects, the key knowledge pupils should remember has not been identified precisely enough, which sometimes makes learning less secure. In addition, while pupils learn to respect difference and inclusivity, their learning about different religions and cultures lacks structure and precision, leaving some pupils with an underdeveloped understanding of the diversity of modern Britain. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since 2012, when it was exempt as an outstanding school.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud of their school and benefit from a strong family-like community.
• Pupils have highly positive attitudes to learning and become independent, confident learners.
• Behaviour and attitudes are exemplary, with kind, thoughtful and collaborative pupils.
• The curriculum is broad, exciting and carefully considered for mixed-age classes.
• Pupils achieve well and are well prepared for secondary education by Year 6.
• Pupils develop impressive depth and fluency in mathematics.
• Pupils become skilled, confident and accomplished writers across subjects.
• Reading is taught highly effectively, and pupils become fluent, expressive readers.
• Teachers know pupils well and quickly identify SEND needs.
• Personal development is enriched through trips, sporting events and cultural experiences.
• Pupils learn to respect difference and show empathy and inclusivity.
• Pupils have meaningful opportunities to contribute to school and community life.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Staff value the wider support and guidance provided by the trust.
• Leaders engage successfully with parents and maintain a positive learning community.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects, key knowledge is not clearly identified, so learning is sometimes less secure.
• Pupils’ learning about different religions and cultures lacks structure and precision.
• Some pupils lack sufficient understanding of the diversity of modern Britain.

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 King's Caple Primary Academy attended 92.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.5% 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, 0.0% of pupils at King's Caple Primary Academy 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 King's Caple Primary Academy had 12.6 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, 15.4% of pupils at King's Caple Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.8% 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 2024–25 King's Caple Primary Academy received £15,783 and spent £14,304 for each of its 23 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £29,000 (£1,261 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of The Herefordshire Marches Federation of Academies, income was £7,183 and spending £7,178 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Hereford · Herefordshire, County of local authority: places and applications

King's Caple Primary Academy is part of The Herefordshire Marches Federation of Academies, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• St Weonard's Academy Hereford
• Lord Scudamore Primary Academy Hereford
• Sutton Primary Academy Hereford

What is King's Caple Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for King's Caple Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was King's Caple Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

King's Caple Primary Academy was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does King's Caple Primary Academy have?

King's Caple Primary Academy has 26 pupils on roll.

What age range does King's Caple Primary Academy cover?

King's Caple Primary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

Where is King's Caple Primary Academy?

King's Caple Primary Academy is at Kings Caple, Hereford, Herefordshire, HR1 4TZ.