Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy

Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy is performing well, maintaining a good standard overall. The school fosters a supportive community, often referred to as the 'Rainbow family', where pupils feel safe and valued. The leadership demonstrates ambition and is proactive in creating an inclusive environment for all students, including those with special educational needs. While the school's reading curriculum and support for new pupils are commendable, there are challenges regarding the clarity of specific knowledge in subjects like history.

Strengths

• Strong school community where pupils feel safe and supported.
• Consistent application of behaviour policies leading to calm and orderly behaviour.
• Ambitious leadership with a positive impact on pupil experiences.
• Well-structured phonics programme that aids reading fluency.
• High expectations for pupils with SEND and tailored support to ensure progress.
• Variety of opportunities for pupils to develop leadership skills and participate in extracurricular activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Lack of clarity in the precise knowledge to be learned in some subjects, particularly history.

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 Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy attended 95.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.0% 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, 1.1% of pupils at Rainbow Primary Leadership 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 Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy had 21.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.1% 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, 6.1% of pupils at Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 2024–25 Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy received £7,051 and spent £6,930 for each of its 357 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £533,000 (£1,492 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Star Academies, income was £8,430 and spending £8,333 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 Bradford · Bradford local authority: places and applications

Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy is part of Star Academies, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• Barkerend Primary Leadership Academy Bradford
• Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Bradford Bradford
• Laisterdyke Leadership Academy Bradford
• Thornbury Primary Leadership Academy Bradford
• Tong Leadership Academy Bradford
• High Crags Primary Leadership Academy Shipley
• The Valley Leadership Academy Bacup
• Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School Rossendale
• Oulder Hill Leadership Academy Rochdale
• The Olive School, Manchester Manchester

What is Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy is Good, from an inspection in September 2022.

When was Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy was last inspected in September 2022.

How many pupils does Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy have?

Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy has 329 pupils on roll.

What age range does Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy cover?

Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy?

Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy is at Nelson Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD5 0HD.