Ditton Lodge Primary School

Ditton Lodge Primary School is a small school in Newmarket, part of Unity Schools Partnership, with 208 pupils and lower-than-average proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with SEN support. The executive headteacher and senior leadership team took up their roles after the previous inspection in January 2024 and also have responsibility for two other schools in the trust. In this full inspection, the school performed very strongly overall. Achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing are all graded Strong standard. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, achieve highly, read fluently, attend well, behave excellently, and are well prepared for secondary school. Leaders have created an inclusive, aspirational culture with extensive enrichment and strong pastoral support. The main area for further development is the early years, which is graded Expected standard rather than Strong. The early years curriculum and phonics are well designed, but some adult-child interactions are inconsistent: staff are occasionally too slow to interact, limiting children's language use, or too quick, which can hinder routines such as sharing. Leaders should continue to ensure staff have the knowledge and expertise to maximise high-quality interactions with children in the early years. A further graded area covering staff/workload is also at Expected standard, though the report says staff feel valued, supported and positive about leaders' changes.

Strengths

• Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, achieve highly, with outcomes well above national averages.
• Pupils are excellent, confident and fluent readers.
• Attendance is well above national averages and persistent absence is low.
• Pupils' behaviour is exemplary; they are polite, respectful and learning is rarely disrupted.
• The ambitious, logically ordered curriculum is extremely well taught.
• Teaching adaptations for pupils with SEND are highly effective, helping them overcome barriers to learning.
• Inclusion is embedded throughout the school, and no pupil faces disadvantage when crossing the threshold.
• Leaders have a clear vision and use precise analysis to make interventions laser sharp.
• Local governors and trust executives robustly hold leaders to account.
• The personal development programme is impressive and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• Pupils embrace diversity and develop a deep understanding of fundamental British values.
• The extensive enrichment offer includes a weekly extended day, clubs and pupil leadership roles.
• The early years curriculum is well designed, with strong phonics and reading from the start.
• Staff are proud, feel valued, and benefit from high-quality professional development.
• Parents support leaders' changes and increased expectations while valuing the school's family feel.
• Safeguarding standards are met through an open and positive culture.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years provision is not yet as strong as the rest of the school, with adult interactions sometimes missing opportunities to extend learning.
• Early years adult-child interactions are inconsistent: some are too slow, limiting language use, while others are too quick, hindering routines such as sharing.
• Leaders need to continue ensuring all early years staff have the knowledge and expertise to maximise high-quality interactions with children.

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 Ditton Lodge Primary School attended 96.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.1% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Ditton Lodge 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 Ditton Lodge Primary School had 42.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2023–24, 57.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 17.1%).

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, 13.2% of pupils at Ditton Lodge Primary School 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 Ditton Lodge Primary School received £6,477 and spent £6,554 for each of its 208 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £63,000 (£305 per pupil).

Across all 39 schools of Unity Schools Partnership, income was £8,494 and spending £8,500 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 Newmarket · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

Ditton Lodge Primary School is part of Unity Schools Partnership, which runs 40 schools. The nearest others:

• Houldsworth Valley Primary Academy Newmarket
• Newmarket Academy Newmarket
• Laureate Community Academy Newmarket
• Wickhambrook Primary Academy Newmarket
• West Row Academy Bury St. Edmunds
• Samuel Ward Academy Haverhill
• Kedington Primary Academy Haverhill
• Castle Manor Academy Haverhill
• Westfield Primary Academy Haverhill
• Burton End Primary Academy Haverhill

What is Ditton Lodge Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ditton Lodge Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Ditton Lodge Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ditton Lodge Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Ditton Lodge Primary School have?

Ditton Lodge Primary School has 204 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ditton Lodge Primary School cover?

Ditton Lodge Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Ditton Lodge Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 96% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ditton Lodge Primary School?

Ditton Lodge Primary School is at St Johns Avenue, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8BL.