Cobden Primary School & Community Centre

Cobden Primary School & Community Centre is a welcoming and friendly school where pupils feel safe and are celebrated as individuals. Inspectors found the school on a clear improvement journey: reading is a notable strength, pastoral care is strong, pupils with SEND and those learning English as an additional language are well supported, and safeguarding is effective. The school has an ambitious vision shared with the Bradgate Education Partnership, and leaders have already made rapid changes that staff view positively. However, provision is not yet consistently good. The curriculum is still being developed, and in some subjects leaders have not identified the key knowledge pupils should learn from early years to Year 6, while checks on what pupils know are at an early stage. Behaviour expectations are not consistently high, particularly at social times, and persistent absence remains too high. Pupils’ understanding of British values is limited, leaving them less well prepared for life in modern Britain. Context matters: the school joined the trust in April 2024 and has a headteacher appointed in August 2024, with acting senior leaders in post. Inspectors recognised that improvements are underway, including revised behaviour arrangements and better attendance systems, but these are not yet fully embedded.

Strengths

• Welcoming and friendly school where pupils feel safe and are celebrated as individuals
• Pupils arrive eager to learn and take pride in leadership roles
• Strong reading culture from Nursery through to older pupils
• Effective support for pupils who struggle with reading
• Suitable SEND identification and strong external partnership working
• Bespoke support for pupils who speak English as an additional language
• Pastoral support is a strength, including expert help in ‘The Ark’
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Strong systems supporting attendance, with signs of improvement
• Ambitious vision shared by the school and trust, with rapid improvements already made
• Staff are positive about recent changes and leaders’ consideration of workload and wellbeing

Areas for Improvement

• Key knowledge is not identified in some subjects from early years to Year 6
• Curriculum activities and resources are sometimes poorly matched to what pupils need to know
• Assessment checks are underdeveloped in some subjects, so gaps and misconceptions persist
• Behaviour expectations are inconsistent, and some pupils are disrespectful at social times
• Persistent absence remains too high, meaning some pupils miss vital learning
• Pupils’ knowledge and understanding of British values are not secure
• Curriculum developments are at an early stage and not yet consistently effective
• Pupils are not fully prepared for life in 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 Cobden Primary School & Community Centre attended 92.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.0% 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, 4.3% of pupils at Cobden Primary School & Community Centre 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 Cobden Primary School & Community Centre had 20.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.2% 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, 18.0% of pupils at Cobden Primary School & Community Centre were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.5% 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 Cobden Primary School & Community Centre received £8,662 and spent £8,921 for each of its 375 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £243,000 (£649 per pupil).

Across all 19 schools of Bradgate Education Partnership, income was £7,352 and spending £7,630 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 Loughborough · Leicestershire local authority: places and applications

Cobden Primary School & Community Centre is part of Bradgate Education Partnership, which runs 19 schools. The nearest others:

• Mountfields Lodge School Loughborough
• Outwoods Edge Primary School Loughborough
• Highgate Primary School Loughborough
• Seagrave Village Primary School Loughborough
• Newtown Linford Primary School Leicester
• Mercenfeld Primary School Markfield
• Wreake Valley Academy Leicester
• The Roundhill Academy Leicester
• Broomfield Community Primary School Leicester
• The Merton Primary School Leicester

What is Cobden Primary School & Community Centre's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cobden Primary School & Community Centre is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Cobden Primary School & Community Centre last inspected by Ofsted?

Cobden Primary School & Community Centre was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Cobden Primary School & Community Centre have?

Cobden Primary School & Community Centre has 400 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cobden Primary School & Community Centre cover?

Cobden Primary School & Community Centre for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Cobden Primary School & Community Centre's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 45% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cobden Primary School & Community Centre?

Cobden Primary School & Community Centre is at Cobden Street, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 1AF.