Ranikhet Academy

Ranikhet Academy is an expected standard school overall, following a full section 5 inspection in April 2026. It is part of the REACH2 Academy Trust and serves a community with well above average levels of disadvantage, including high proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils feel safe and happy, and leaders have a clear, ambitious vision. The early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and curriculum design are particular strengths, with effective phonics teaching, strong support for vulnerable pupils, and a wide range of personal development opportunities. However, the school faces significant challenges. Pupils' achievement over time is not as good as it should be: national test attainment is below average in reading, writing and mathematics, and too many pupils are not fully prepared for their next steps. Attendance is a serious concern, with absence and persistent absence well above national averages, and leaders' actions have not yet led to swift enough improvements. Behaviour is generally good, but staff do not apply the behaviour policy consistently, which affects some pupils' attitudes to learning and disrupts lessons. Teaching is generally effective, but some activities are not precisely matched to pupils' individual needs, and the personal development programme does not yet develop pupils' understanding deeply enough. The school knows its areas for development and has acted to address historic underperformance, but progress has not been rapid enough. Next steps focus on improving attendance, embedding the behaviour policy consistently, strengthening teaching adaptations, and deepening the personal development curriculum so that more pupils achieve well by the end of key stage 2.

Strengths

• Leaders have a comprehensive understanding of curriculum and teaching quality.
• The curriculum is ambitious, logically sequenced and mapped to clear end points.
• An effective phonics programme helps pupils learn to read accurately.
• Children in early years make a successful start and are well prepared for Year 1.
• Staff quickly identify and support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Leaders use additional funding effectively to support disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils.
• Leadership and governance are strong, with clear vision and effective trust support.
• Staff feel well supported with workload and wellbeing.
• The personal development programme includes extensive enrichment and wellbeing support.
• Pupils feel safe and happy, with positive relationships and generally good behaviour.
• Bullying is taken seriously and addressed swiftly.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND progress well from their starting points in many areas.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement over time is below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Too many pupils are not fully prepared for their next steps in education.
• Some pupils do not build secure knowledge and skills across the curriculum by the end of key stage 2.
• Attendance is too low, with absence and persistent absence well above national averages.
• Leaders' actions to improve attendance have not led to swift enough improvements.
• Staff do not implement the behaviour policy consistently, leading to unclear expectations.
• Some pupils' attitudes to learning are not positive and they disrupt others' learning.
• Some lesson activities are not consistently matched to pupils' individual needs.
• The personal development programme does not deepen pupils' understanding enough for life in modern Britain.
• Improvements in pupils' achievement have not been swift enough despite leaders' actions.

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 Ranikhet Academy attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.9% 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, 3.9% of pupils at Ranikhet 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 Ranikhet Academy had 17.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 41.7% 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, 26.3% of pupils at Ranikhet Academy 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 Ranikhet Academy received £8,984 and spent £7,806 for each of its 215 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £49,000 (£228 per pupil).

Across all 65 schools of Reach2 Academy Trust, income was £7,346 and spending £7,105 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 Reading · Reading local authority: places and applications

Ranikhet Academy is part of Reach2 Academy Trust, which runs 65 schools. The nearest others:

• Civitas Academy Reading
• Green Park Village Primary Academy Reading
• The Palmer Primary Academy Reading
• Green Ridge Primary Academy Aylesbury
• Summerside Primary Academy London
• Aerodrome Primary Academy Croydon
• Robert Fitzroy Academy Croydon
• St Mark's Church of England Primary Academy London
• Tidemill Academy London
• Desmond Anderson Primary Academy Crawley

What is Ranikhet Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ranikhet Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Ranikhet Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Ranikhet Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Ranikhet Academy have?

Ranikhet Academy has 205 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ranikhet Academy cover?

Ranikhet Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Ranikhet Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ranikhet Academy?

Ranikhet Academy is at Spey Road, Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire, RG30 4ED.