Gorse Hill Primary School

Gorse Hill Primary School has made significant improvements since its previous inspection, now rated as good overall. The school demonstrates a strong commitment to inclusion and diversity, fostering an environment where pupils feel respected and valued. Leaders have high expectations and have successfully embedded strong pastoral support, helping to develop pupils' behaviors, attitudes, and overall enjoyment of learning. Although reading and mathematics are well-developed within the curriculum, there are gaps in other subjects that need to be addressed to ensure a comprehensive educational experience for all students.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy learning and behave well in school.
• The school has high expectations and provides strong pastoral support.
• Effective reading and phonics instruction from the early years.
• The mathematics curriculum is well-sequenced and engaging for pupils.
• Staff work collaboratively and show dedication towards all pupils, including those with SEND.

Areas for Improvement

• Some subjects in the wider curriculum lack coherence and sequenced knowledge.
• Assessment systems in subjects other than English and mathematics are underdeveloped.

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 Gorse Hill Primary School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.8% 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, 1.4% of pupils at Gorse 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 Gorse Hill Primary School had 24.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.4% 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, 12.0% of pupils at Gorse Hill Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 Gorse Hill Primary School received £6,065 and spent £5,813 for each of its 430 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £267,000 (£622 per pupil).

Across all 30 schools of The White Horse Federation, income was £7,712 and spending £7,474 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 Swindon · Swindon local authority: places and applications

Gorse Hill Primary School is part of The White Horse Federation, which runs 30 schools. The nearest others:

• Drove Primary School Swindon
• Mountford Manor Primary School Swindon
• Grange Junior School Swindon
• St Luke's Academy Swindon
• Rodbourne Cheney Primary School Swindon
• Grange Infants' School Swindon
• Moredon Primary School Swindon
• Nyland School Swindon
• Haydon Wick Primary School Swindon
• The Croft Primary School Swindon

What is Gorse Hill Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Gorse Hill Primary School is Good, from an inspection in October 2022.

When was Gorse Hill Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Gorse Hill Primary School was last inspected in October 2022.

How many pupils does Gorse Hill Primary School have?

Gorse Hill Primary School has 441 pupils on roll.

What age range does Gorse Hill Primary School cover?

Gorse Hill Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 74% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Gorse Hill Primary School?

Gorse Hill Primary School is at Avening Street, Gorse Hill, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN2 8BZ.