Willowcroft Community School

Willowcroft Community School continues to maintain a good standard of education, providing a happy and nurturing environment for its pupils. The strong relationships between staff and students foster positive attitudes towards learning, contributing to overall good academic and social outcomes. The school effectively supports pupils with special educational needs and has a curriculum that is both ambitious and well-defined. The proactive engagement with families helps ensure good attendance and promotes a love of reading among students.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning.
• The school has a supportive and nurturing environment.
• Teachers set clear expectations for behaviour, leading to a productive classroom atmosphere.
• The curriculum is vibrant and carefully structured.
• Pupils have opportunities for leadership and contribute positively to the school community.
• Efforts to support disadvantaged pupils are effective.
• Strong promotion of reading and diverse literature.
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and are responsive to pupils' needs.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent teaching in a few subjects affects pupil learning.
• Teaching of phonics is variable, impacting some pupils' reading fluency.

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 Willowcroft Community School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.9% 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, 2.3% of pupils at Willowcroft Community 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 Willowcroft Community School had 23.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.4% 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, 19.8% of pupils at Willowcroft Community School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.8% 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 Willowcroft Community School received £7,143 and spent £7,102 for each of its 462 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £258,000 (£558 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 Didcot · Oxfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Willowcroft Community School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Willowcroft Community School is Good, from an inspection in April 2024.

When was Willowcroft Community School last inspected by Ofsted?

Willowcroft Community School was last inspected in April 2024.

How many pupils does Willowcroft Community School have?

Willowcroft Community School has 481 pupils on roll.

What age range does Willowcroft Community School cover?

Willowcroft Community School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Willowcroft Community School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Willowcroft Community School?

Willowcroft Community School is at Mereland Road, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 8BA.