Sandbach Primary Academy

Sandbach Primary Academy is a friendly and welcoming school where pupils, including children in the early years, enjoy attending and behave responsibly. Inspectors found the school performing well across the key judgments, with high expectations for pupils, typically strong achievement across the curriculum, and effective safeguarding. The school is part of the Aspire Academy Trust and serves pupils aged 2 to 11, including mixed-age classes in Years 3 to 6 and provision for two-year-olds. Notable strengths include a strong reading culture, effective early phonics support, good support for pupils with SEND, and a personal development programme enriched by trips, clubs and leadership roles. Attendance is a high priority and has improved remarkably. Governance is effective, staff feel well supported, and the trust brings useful expertise into the school. There are a small number of areas to improve. In a couple of subjects, assessment does not consistently check what pupils retain over time, so some gaps in learning are not addressed. In a small number of subjects, including some early years areas, the school has not yet clearly identified the most important knowledge pupils should learn, which limits the depth of subject knowledge pupils develop in those places.

Strengths

• Strong reading culture with pupils enthusiastic about books and authors
• Effective early phonics support helps pupils read accurately and catch up quickly
• Well-thought-out and aspirational curriculum supports pupils to achieve well
• Pupils behave responsibly and demonstrate kindness and respect
• Personal development is enriched by trips, clubs, leadership roles and visitors
• Pupils with SEND receive effective additional support and progress well
• Attendance is a high priority with remarkable improvement and effective support
• Early years provision develops cooperation, determination and readiness for phonics
• Governance is effective and staff feel well supported by the school and trust
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In a couple of subjects, assessment does not check that pupils retain knowledge over time, so gaps are not addressed
• In a small number of subjects and early years areas, the most important knowledge is not clearly identified, hindering depth of learning
• In a few subjects, staff are not as adept at checking pupils' prior learning before introducing new information

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 Sandbach Primary Academy attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.8% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Sandbach Primary Academy 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 Sandbach Primary Academy had 24.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 30.8% 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, 16.8% of pupils at Sandbach Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.7% 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 Sandbach Primary Academy received £8,347 and spent £8,246 for each of its 137 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £120,000 (£873 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 Sandbach · Cheshire East local authority: places and applications

Sandbach Primary Academy is part of The Aspire Educational Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Holmes Chapel Primary School Crewe
• Underwood West Academy Crewe
• Peover Superior Endowed Primary School Knutsford
• Victoria Road Primary School Northwich
• Ivy Bank Primary School Macclesfield
• Ash Grove Academy Macclesfield
• Hollinhey Primary School Macclesfield
• Parkroyal Community School Macclesfield
• Puss Bank School and Nursery Macclesfield
• Hurdsfield Community Primary School and Nursery Macclesfield

What is Sandbach Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sandbach Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Sandbach Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Sandbach Primary Academy was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Sandbach Primary Academy have?

Sandbach Primary Academy has 149 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sandbach Primary Academy cover?

Sandbach Primary Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Sandbach Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 75% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Sandbach Primary Academy?

Sandbach Primary Academy is at Crewe Road, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 4NS.