Dudley Wood Primary School

Dudley Wood Primary School has made significant progress since its last inspection, moving from a grade of 'Requires Improvement' to 'Good'. The school fosters a safe and supportive environment where pupils' well-being is prioritized, and a strong culture of safeguarding is evident. With high expectations for behaviour and an ambitious curriculum, pupils are achieving well, demonstrating good engagement in their learning. The leadership under the new headteacher, Jon Beacham, and the supporting trust has effectively shaped a clear vision for improvement. Despite many strengths, the school faces challenges in consistently meeting the needs of all pupils, particularly those with additional needs.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well and are happy and safe at school.
• Strong culture of safeguarding with trusted adults responding to pupils' concerns.
• Ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum that supports knowledge retention.
• Effective early years provision with a focus on language development and exploration.
• A variety of enriching extracurricular activities that engage students.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent identification and addressing of misconceptions in pupils' writing.
• Some teachers do not consistently adapt lessons for pupils with additional needs.
• Regular school attendance remains a concern for some 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 Dudley Wood Primary School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.1% 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, 0.4% of pupils at Dudley Wood Primary School 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 Dudley Wood Primary School had 24.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.9% 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, 16.2% of pupils at Dudley Wood Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 Dudley Wood Primary School received £6,677 and spent £6,772 for each of its 434 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £313,000 (£720 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of The Rivers C of E Multi Academy Trust, income was £6,841 and spending £6,964 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 Dudley · Dudley local authority: places and applications

Dudley Wood Primary School is part of The Rivers C of E Multi Academy Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Summerhill Primary Academy Tipton
• Jubilee Park Academy Tipton
• Heronswood Primary School Kidderminster
• Cutnall Green CofE Primary School Droitwich
• Burlish Park Primary School Stourport-On-Severn
• Wychbold First and Nursery School Droitwich
• St Peter's Droitwich CofE Academy Droitwich Spa
• Great Witley CofE Primary School Worcester
• Cranham Primary School Worcester
• North Worcester Primary School Worcester

What is Dudley Wood Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Dudley Wood Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2024.

When was Dudley Wood Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Dudley Wood Primary School was last inspected in September 2024.

How many pupils does Dudley Wood Primary School have?

Dudley Wood Primary School has 451 pupils on roll.

What age range does Dudley Wood Primary School cover?

Dudley Wood Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Dudley Wood Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 65% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Dudley Wood Primary School?

Dudley Wood Primary School is at Dudley Wood Road, Dudley Wood Primary School, Dudley Wood Road, Dudley, Dy2 0db, Dudley, West Midlands, DY2 0DB.