Cotham Gardens Primary School

Cotham Gardens Primary School is a single academy trust that was previously judged good but, following its December 2024 graded inspection, has been found to require special measures. Pupils are happy and safe, and safeguarding is effective, but they do not receive an acceptable standard of education. Expectations of achievement are low, the curriculum is weakly implemented, and pupils’ learning gaps are not routinely addressed, so they are not well prepared for the next stage of their education. The report highlights serious weaknesses in provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, in reading and phonics catch-up, and in early years. Behaviour is not managed consistently, leading to disruption, while personal development lacks coherence and is not delivered as intended. Leadership and governance have lacked capacity to bring about improvement, although recent changes to the trust board are beginning to lay foundations for a more strategic approach. The school remains heavily reliant on external support, and staff report some dissatisfaction with workload and well-being management. Strengths include pupils’ happiness and safety, sensible conduct around the school, effective safeguarding, rigorous attendance work, and some early reading and mathematics foundations in Reception. However, these are outweighed by the significant weaknesses in education quality, SEND support, curriculum implementation, behaviour consistency, and leadership capacity.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and safe and know staff will help them with worries.
• Pupils’ conduct around the school building is sensible and purposeful.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• The school has a rigorous approach to attendance and works closely with families and external agencies.
• Children start learning to read in Reception and read books that match the sounds they know.
• Children develop a strong grounding in number and early mathematics.
• Some pupils develop confidence and responsibility through school council and monitor roles.
• Some pupils develop talents and interests through clubs such as choir.
• The recently strengthened trust board has begun to address weaknesses in curriculum oversight.

Areas for Improvement

• Expectations of pupils’ achievement are low and the curriculum has weak impact.
• Pupils are unprepared for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils with SEND receive poor support and do not achieve well enough.
• The school does not check how the curriculum is taught and lacks oversight of pupils’ education.
• Pupils’ gaps in learning are not routinely addressed and lessons are often disconnected.
• Pupils in key stage 1 are given reading books that do not match the sounds they know well enough.
• Pupils who need to catch up in phonics do not receive effective support.
• The broader reading curriculum does not take enough account of pupils’ gaps and is not adapted to their needs.
• Some early years curriculum areas are underdeveloped and children’s vocabulary and communication skills are not widened enough.
• Staff do not apply the behaviour policy consistently, and poor behaviour sometimes disrupts learning.
• Personal development provision lacks coherence and is not delivered as well as intended.
• Leadership and governance lack the capacity to secure necessary improvement.
• The school is heavily reliant on external support to bring about change.
• Some staff are dissatisfied with the school’s approach to managing workload and well-being.
• HMCI strongly recommends that the school does not seek to appoint early career teachers.

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 Cotham Gardens Primary School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.7% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Cotham Gardens 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 Cotham Gardens Primary School had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.2% 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, 14.0% of pupils at Cotham Gardens Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% 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 Cotham Gardens Primary School received £7,646 and spent £7,818 for each of its 412 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £117,000 (£284 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.

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• Secondary Schools

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What is Cotham Gardens Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cotham Gardens Primary School is Inadequate, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Cotham Gardens Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cotham Gardens Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Cotham Gardens Primary School have?

Cotham Gardens Primary School has 365 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cotham Gardens Primary School cover?

Cotham Gardens Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cotham Gardens Primary School?

Cotham Gardens Primary School is at 18 Cotham Grove, Bristol, BS6 6AL.