Forge Wood Primary School

Forge Wood Primary School has been effective in maintaining high standards since its last inspection, demonstrating resilience in the face of staff turnover and pupil mobility. The school fosters a positive environment where pupils develop strong personal and leadership skills, contributing to their overall achievement and well-being. However, it also faces challenges, particularly in ensuring that all pupils catch up in areas like reading and writing, which have been impacted by recent disruptions.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud to attend and show kindness towards each other.
• The school has a well-structured and ambitious curriculum.
• Pupils achieve well overall and develop positive habits for learning.
• Behaviour is exceptional, with consistent expectations set by staff.
• Effective support is provided for pupils with SEND.
• Reading and writing are generally taught well, creating confident readers.
• Governors provide effective challenge and support to the school.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge in reading and writing.
• A minority of pupils arrive at school late, affecting their learning.

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 Forge Wood Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.0% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Forge Wood 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 Forge Wood Primary School had 24.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 32.1% 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, 13.1% of pupils at Forge Wood Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.8% 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 Forge Wood Primary School received £5,995 and spent £6,235 for each of its 415 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £354,000 (£852 per pupil).

Across all 42 schools of Glf Schools, income was £7,514 and spending £7,514 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 Crawley · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

Forge Wood Primary School is part of Glf Schools, which runs 43 schools. The nearest others:

• Southgate Primary Crawley
• Kilnwood Vale Primary School Horsham
• Salfords Primary School and Nursery Redhill
• Lime Tree Primary School and Nursery Merstham
• Merstham Park School Redhill
• Merstham Primary School Redhill
• Greenway Junior School Horsham
• Hillcroft Primary School & Nursery Caterham
• de Stafford School Caterham
• Marden Lodge Primary School and Nursery Caterham

What is Forge Wood Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Forge Wood Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Forge Wood Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Forge Wood Primary School have?

Forge Wood Primary School has 420 pupils on roll.

What age range does Forge Wood Primary School cover?

Forge Wood Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Forge Wood Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Forge Wood Primary School?

Forge Wood Primary School is at Somerley Drive, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 3SW.