Ecton Brook Primary School

Ecton Brook Primary School is a caring, aspirational primary academy within Northampton Primary Academy Trust, spread across two sites but retaining a strong shared ethos. Pupils are happy, feel safe and are very well cared for, and their behaviour is exemplary. They achieve well, with published outcomes above the national average, and benefit from a strong reading culture, expert phonics teaching and an ambitious, well-sequenced mathematics curriculum. The school's personal development offer is exceptional, giving pupils a wide range of aspirational experiences and responsibilities, and pupils with SEND achieve well through effective adaptive teaching and tailored provision. Leadership and management are exceptionally strong. Staff value research-informed training and trust networking, feel well supported with workload and wellbeing, and governance provides effective challenge and support. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Children get a secure start in Reception, and the early years environment is well resourced and organised. The main areas for improvement are that pupils' long-term recall of prior learning is inconsistent and depth of knowledge in some wider curriculum subjects is not fully secure. In the early years, spoken interactions between staff and children during play do not always support learning well, so some children do not achieve as well as they could when learning independently.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and are well cared for.
• Pupils behave with exemplary courtesy and respect.
• Pupils achieve well, with published outcomes above the national average.
• The school has a strong reading culture and expert phonics teaching.
• The mathematics curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced.
• Pupils with SEND achieve well through effective scaffolding and tailored provision.
• Personal development is exceptional, with a wide range of aspirational opportunities.
• Pupils take on meaningful responsibilities such as digital leader and school councillor.
• Leadership and management are exceptionally strong.
• Staff are happy and feel well supported with workload and wellbeing.
• Governance provides an effective balance of challenge and support.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Children get a secure start in Reception, with clear routines and well-resourced areas.

Areas for Improvement

• Approaches to help pupils recall and retain knowledge are not consistently effective.
• Pupils do not always remember prior learning in some subjects.
• Depth of knowledge in some wider curriculum subjects is not fully secure.
• Spoken interactions in the early years do not always support children's learning during play.
• Some children do not achieve as well as they could when learning independently through play.

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 Ecton Brook Primary School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.8% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Ecton Brook 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 Ecton Brook Primary School had 21.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.6% 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, 14.1% of pupils at Ecton Brook Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.9% 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 Ecton Brook Primary School received £7,422 and spent £7,421 for each of its 558 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £305,000 (£547 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Northampton Primary Academy Trust, income was £7,879 and spending £7,861 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 Northampton · West Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

Ecton Brook Primary School is part of Northampton Primary Academy Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Rectory Farm Primary School Northampton
• Blackthorn Primary School Northampton
• Lings Primary School Northampton
• Thorplands Primary School Northampton
• Headlands Primary School Northampton
• Abington Vale Primary School Northampton
• Simon de Senlis Primary School Northampton
• East Hunsbury Primary School Northampton
• Park Junior School, Wellingborough Wellingborough
• Upton Meadows Primary School Northampton

What is Ecton Brook Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ecton Brook Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Ecton Brook Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ecton Brook Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Ecton Brook Primary School have?

Ecton Brook Primary School has 567 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ecton Brook Primary School cover?

Ecton Brook Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ecton Brook Primary School?

Ecton Brook Primary School is at Ecton Brook Road, Ecton Brook, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN3 5DY.