Alston Primary School

Alston Primary School demonstrates effective leadership and a commitment to maintaining its good standards from the previous inspection. Pupils are engaged and proud of their school, benefiting from a well-structured curriculum that begins in the early years and enhances their communication skills. The school provides a supportive environment where pupils feel safe and valued, and there are high expectations for academic achievement. Extra-curricular activities further enrich the pupils' educational experience.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and proud to be part of the school community.
• The early years curriculum is carefully designed to support language development.
• Reading is prioritized, with effective tracking of phonics progress.
• High-quality teaching leads to improving academic outcomes.
• Pupils with SEND receive effective support tailored to their needs.
• Extra-curricular activities enhance the learning experience.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers do not explain subject-specific vocabulary clearly enough.
• Occasional lack of clarity in modeling expectations for learning tasks.

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 Alston Primary School attended 93.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.4% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Alston 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 Alston Primary School had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.3% 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, 20.6% of pupils at Alston Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 8 pupils.

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 Alston Primary School received £6,822 and spent £6,913 for each of its 634 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £898,000 (£1,417 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Leigh Trust, income was £7,576 and spending £7,567 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.

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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Birmingham · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

Alston Primary School is part of Leigh Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Nansen Primary School Birmingham
• Marlborough Primary School Birmingham
• Wyndcliffe Primary School Birmingham
• Leigh Primary School Birmingham
• Summerfield Primary School Birmingham
• Bentley West Primary School Walsall

What is Alston Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Alston Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Alston Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Alston Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Alston Primary School have?

Alston Primary School has 636 pupils on roll.

What age range does Alston Primary School cover?

Alston Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 59% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Alston Primary School?

Alston Primary School is at Alston Road, Bordesley Green East, Birmingham, West Midlands, B9 5UN.