Summerbank Primary Academy

Summerbank Primary Academy is performing well, achieving a good overall effectiveness rating across all areas of education. Pupils enjoy a supportive and inclusive environment that emphasizes their social and emotional development. The school prioritizes the needs of all students, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils, ensuring they thrive in their learning journey. The curriculum is well-structured and ambitious, enabling strong academic outcomes and a passion for reading among students.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve exceptionally well by the time they leave the school.
• The early years curriculum provides an excellent foundation for children's future learning.
• Support for SEND and disadvantaged pupils is well considered and effectively implemented.
• The school fosters a vibrant, multicultural community where pupils feel safe and valued.
• Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes and respect towards one another.
• The curriculum is ambitious and logically sequenced to enhance learning.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils struggle with correct letter and number formation in their written work.
• Recent changes to assessment processes leave gaps in understanding of pupils' long-term retention of knowledge in some foundation subjects.

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 Summerbank Primary Academy attended 92.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.0% 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, 1.1% of pupils at Summerbank 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 Summerbank Primary Academy had 21.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 24.6% of pupils at Summerbank Primary Academy 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 Summerbank Primary Academy received £7,222 and spent £7,149 for each of its 453 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £289,000 (£637 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Societas Trust, income was £6,126 and spending £5,893 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 Stoke-On-Trent · Stoke-on-Trent local authority: places and applications

Summerbank Primary Academy is part of The Societas Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Goldenhill Primary Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• Burnwood Primary Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• Ball Green Primary Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• Ellison Primary Academy Newcastle
• Carmountside Primary Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• Alsagers Bank Primary Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• Gladstone Primary Academy Stoke-On-Trent
• Ash Green Primary Academy Stoke-On-Trent

What is Summerbank Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Summerbank Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in December 2023.

When was Summerbank Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Summerbank Primary Academy was last inspected in December 2023.

How many pupils does Summerbank Primary Academy have?

Summerbank Primary Academy has 443 pupils on roll.

What age range does Summerbank Primary Academy cover?

Summerbank Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

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

Where is Summerbank Primary Academy?

Summerbank Primary Academy is at Summerbank Road, Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST6 5HA.