Preston Hedges Primary School

Preston Hedges Primary is a highly effective school where pupils are happy, confident and achieve very well. The inspection found outstanding provision across all key areas, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years. Pupils benefit from an ambitious curriculum that exceeds national expectations, highly effective teaching, strong reading provision and excellent support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Behaviour is excellent, and pupils are respectful, calm and supportive of one another. The school places a strong emphasis on wider development and enrichment, with pupils taking part in a wide range of activities and leadership roles. Leaders, including those in the Preston Hedges Trust, share a clear ambition and have created a highly effective provision that is considered a beacon of best practice for other schools in the trust. Staff are well supported, parents are kept informed, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. This was the first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors took its impact into account.

Strengths

• Ambitious and meticulously designed curriculum that exceeds national expectations
• Highly effective teaching that helps all pupils, including those with SEND, learn successfully
• Strong focus on reading, with expertly trained staff and high levels of literacy achievement
• Excellent behaviour and very positive attitudes to learning
• Calm and orderly conduct around the school
• Very well-considered wider development provision that prepares pupils for life in modern Britain
• Pupils have a secure understanding of British values and protected characteristics
• Leaders, including trust members, have a shared ambition and maintain highly effective provision
• Staff workload and well-being are considered, and staff are very happy
• Parents are well informed about pupils’ learning, progress and well-being
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

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 Preston Hedges Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.3% 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 Preston Hedges 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 Preston Hedges Primary School had 21.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.8% 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, 8.9% of pupils at Preston Hedges Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% 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 Preston Hedges Primary School received £5,349 and spent £5,571 for each of its 421 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £458,000 (£1,089 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Preston Hedges Trust, income was £6,001 and spending £5,913 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

Preston Hedges Primary School is part of Preston Hedges Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Pineham Barns Primary School Northampton
• Parklands Primary School Northampton
• Buckton Fields Primary School Northampton
• Broughton Fields Primary School Milton Keynes
• Holne Chase Primary School Bletchley

What is Preston Hedges Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Preston Hedges Primary School is Outstanding, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Preston Hedges Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Preston Hedges Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Preston Hedges Primary School have?

Preston Hedges Primary School has 418 pupils on roll.

What age range does Preston Hedges Primary School cover?

Preston Hedges Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Preston Hedges Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 81% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Preston Hedges Primary School?

Preston Hedges Primary School is at Wootton Hope Drive, Wootton Fields, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN4 6BU.