Hurst Hill Primary School

Hurst Hill Primary School is a welcoming, inclusive school where pupils feel safe, behave well and are supported by staff who know them well. Safeguarding standards are met, and most areas of provision are judged to be at the expected standard, including attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development. The school is part of Hales Valley Trust and includes an on-site pre-school; it serves a community with above-average levels of deprivation and a high proportion of pupils with SEN support. Leaders have an accurate view of the school's strengths and priorities, staff feel well supported, and parents are positive about the school. The main concern is achievement. Published outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics have been below national figures for several years, and a small number of pupils still struggle to read fluently, which limits their comprehension and progress. Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes are particularly low, with a large gap compared with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Current pupils are beginning to benefit from stronger early reading, targeted support and clearer curriculum systems, and they are making effective progress from their starting points, but these improvements are not yet fully reflected in outcomes. Attendance also needs further work: overall absence and persistent absence are above national averages, although leaders monitor attendance closely and persistent absence is reducing. The next steps focus on continuing to improve achievement, especially for disadvantaged pupils; embedding teaching so pupils develop deep, secure knowledge across all subjects; evaluating the pupil-premium strategy more rigorously; and tackling remaining barriers to attendance.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are identified and managed.
• Pupils feel safe, behave sensibly and show positive attitudes to learning.
• Bullying is rare and staff deal with concerns quickly, consistently and fairly.
• Leaders have created a calm, orderly and respectful school environment.
• The curriculum is ambitious, broad and balanced, and adapted to the school community.
• Phonics is taught systematically and consistently, with targeted support for pupils who need to catch up.
• Early years provision gives children a positive start, with strong communication, language and personal development.
• The school is inclusive and supports pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and those known to children's social care.
• Leaders and governors have an accurate understanding of the school and provide appropriate challenge and support.
• Staff feel valued and well supported, and leaders help them manage workload effectively.
• Personal development is broad, helping pupils learn safety, relationships, life skills and responsibility.
• Parents and carers speak positively about the school and say staff listen and act when needed.
• Current pupils make effective progress from their starting points.
• Attendance is monitored closely and persistent absence is reducing.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is an area needing attention; attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has been below national for several years.
• Some pupils still do not read fluently, which limits their comprehension and progress across year groups and key stages.
• Some pupils are not as well prepared for their next stage of education as they should be.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes are low and the disadvantage gap is large, including 0% meeting the combined reading, writing and mathematics measure in 2024/25.
• The pupil-premium strategy needs more rigorous evaluation to show it reduces barriers and improves outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
• Overall absence and persistent absence are above national figures; some pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, need further support to attend well.
• Improvements in teaching and curriculum are not yet fully embedded, so pupils do not consistently develop deep, secure knowledge across all subjects.
• More work is needed to improve achievement for all pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils.

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 Hurst Hill Primary School attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.8% 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 Hurst Hill 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 Hurst Hill Primary School had 36.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.7% 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, 22.3% of pupils at Hurst Hill Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.9% 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 Hurst Hill Primary School received £7,215 and spent £7,335 for each of its 223 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £175,000 (£783 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Hales Valley Trust, income was £6,705 and spending £6,681 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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All schools in Bilston · Dudley local authority: places and applications

Hurst Hill Primary School is part of Hales Valley Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Priory Primary School Dudley
• Woodside Primary School and Nursery Dudley
• Withymoor Primary School Brierley Hill
• Gig Mill Primary School Stourbridge
• Lapal Primary School Halesowen
• Lutley Primary School Halesowen

What is Hurst Hill Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hurst Hill Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Hurst Hill Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hurst Hill Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Hurst Hill Primary School have?

Hurst Hill Primary School has 233 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hurst Hill Primary School cover?

Hurst Hill Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Hurst Hill Primary School?

Hurst Hill Primary School is at Paul Street, Hurst Hill, Coseley, Bilston, West Midlands, WV14 9AJ.