Parkroyal Community School

Parkroyal Community School is a larger-than-average primary school in Macclesfield, part of The Aspire Educational Trust. Following a full section 5 inspection in May 2026, safeguarding standards were met. The school is performing securely overall: early years and inclusion are particular strengths, while achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing all meet expected standards. Pupils are happy, safe, attend well and behave positively. Strengths include highly effective early years provision, especially in communication, language and phonics, and swift identification of pupils' additional needs. Leaders support disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND effectively, staff feel well supported, and pupils benefit from a broad curriculum and wide-ranging personal development opportunities. Attendance is consistently above the national average, and disadvantaged pupils' writing outcomes improved markedly in 2024/25. Concerns remain around overall attainment in combined reading, writing and mathematics, which has been below national average over recent years, and disadvantaged pupils' outcomes, especially in mathematics and the combined measure. Writing at greater depth by the end of key stage 2 is below national average, and gaps remain in some pupils' foundational mathematics knowledge. Personal development is coherent, but pupils' understanding of some areas, such as money and how democracy relates to their own lives, is not consistently secure.

Strengths

• Early years curriculum is carefully shaped to meet children's needs, especially in communication and language.
• Phonics teaching is well established and helps children read with increasing fluency.
• Early writing skills are taught consistently, including pencil grip and posture.
• Leaders rigorously check provision and children's understanding, supporting rapid progress.
• Inclusion is a strength: leaders identify pupils' needs quickly and address barriers effectively.
• Disadvantaged pupils are supported well, including through personal mentors.
• Staff are trained to support pupils with SEND and adapt learning skilfully.
• Attendance is consistently above the national average across all pupil groups.
• Pupils generally behave well and show positive attitudes to learning.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with key vocabulary emphasised across subjects.
• Staff report high levels of support for wellbeing and workload.
• Leaders prioritise positive relationships with parents and carers.
• Pupils access a wide range of personal development opportunities, including music, trips and community events.
• Pupils feel safe, included and happy at school.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' attainment in combined reading, writing and mathematics has been below national average over recent years.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes are below national averages, especially in mathematics and the combined measure.
• The proportion of pupils working at greater depth in writing by the end of key stage 2 is below the national average.
• Gaps remain in some pupils' foundational mathematics knowledge.
• Pupils' understanding in personal development is sometimes not sufficiently detailed, for example about money and how democracy relates to their own lives.
• The disadvantage gap remains wide in combined reading, writing and mathematics.

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 Parkroyal Community School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.1% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Parkroyal 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 Parkroyal Community School had 23.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.5% 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 Parkroyal Community 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 Parkroyal Community School received £6,164 and spent £6,309 for each of its 417 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £98,000 (£234 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of The Aspire Educational Trust, income was £6,867 and spending £6,913 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 Macclesfield · Cheshire East local authority: places and applications

Parkroyal Community School is part of The Aspire Educational Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Ash Grove Academy Macclesfield
• Ivy Bank Primary School Macclesfield
• Puss Bank School and Nursery Macclesfield
• Hurdsfield Community Primary School and Nursery Macclesfield
• Hollinhey Primary School Macclesfield
• The Wilmslow Academy Wilmslow
• Peover Superior Endowed Primary School Knutsford
• Holmes Chapel Primary School Crewe
• Sandbach Primary Academy Sandbach
• Wilbraham Primary School Manchester

What is Parkroyal Community School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Parkroyal Community School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Parkroyal Community School last inspected by Ofsted?

Parkroyal Community School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Parkroyal Community School have?

Parkroyal Community School has 411 pupils on roll.

What age range does Parkroyal Community School cover?

Parkroyal Community School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Parkroyal Community School?

Parkroyal Community School is at Lyon Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 6QX.