Great Heath Academy

Great Heath Academy is performing well overall, with a consistent 'Good' rating across all key aspects of education, behavior, and leadership. The school's environment fosters pride among pupils, who express enthusiasm for their learning and demonstrate strong confidence and resilience. The curriculum is ambitious and engaging, with a strong emphasis on reading and well-planned progression in key subjects. Support for special educational needs is notably effective, allowing all students to participate fully in school life and make strong progress.

Strengths

• Pupils are articulate, confident, and happy.
• Consistent routines contribute to a calm and purposeful learning environment.
• Strong focus on reading, with a well-designed 'reading route' of core books.
• Ambitious and well-structured curriculum encourages pupils' interests and passions.
• Effective support for pupils with SEND, enabling strong progress.
• Wide range of extracurricular activities that enhance learning.

Areas for Improvement

• Implementation of the new curriculum in some foundation subjects is still developing.

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 Great Heath Academy attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.4% 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, 1.3% of pupils at Great Heath Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Great Heath Academy had 21.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.2% 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, 21.5% of pupils at Great Heath Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.7% 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 Great Heath Academy received £6,699 and spent £6,514 for each of its 460 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £82,000 (£178 per pupil).

Across all 21 schools of Academy Transformation Trust, income was £9,055 and spending £8,540 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 Bury St Edmunds · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

Great Heath Academy is part of Academy Transformation Trust, which runs 21 schools. The nearest others:

• Mildenhall College Academy Mildenhall
• Beck Row Primary Academy Bury St Edmunds
• Iceni Primary Academy Hockwold Cum Wilton
• Iceni Secondary Academy Thetford
• The Nicholas Hamond Academy Swaffham
• Westbourne Academy Ipswich
• Kingsmoor Academy Harlow
• Ravens Academy Clacton-On-Sea
• The Hathaway Academy Grays
• The Dukeries Academy Newark

What is Great Heath Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Great Heath Academy is Good, from an inspection in March 2024.

When was Great Heath Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Great Heath Academy was last inspected in March 2024.

How many pupils does Great Heath Academy have?

Great Heath Academy has 438 pupils on roll.

What age range does Great Heath Academy cover?

Great Heath Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Great Heath Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 55% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Great Heath Academy?

Great Heath Academy is at Girton Close, Mildenhall, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 7PT.