Southgate Primary

Southgate Primary School has made significant progress since its previous inspection, bringing its overall effectiveness up to a good rating. The school fosters a supportive environment where staff maintain high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). With a curriculum designed to be ambitious and accessible, pupils are achieving well, demonstrating a solid understanding of key knowledge and skills, particularly in early reading and mathematics. However, there are some areas that need addressing to further enhance pupil learning, particularly in ensuring that gaps in prior knowledge are filled and reading materials align closely with pupils' phonics knowledge.

Strengths

• High expectations for learning across the school.
• Strong pastoral support prioritizing pupils' well-being.
• Effective leadership with a commitment to improvement.
• Well-organized personal, social, and health education curriculum.
• Positive culture of reading and diverse selection of texts.

Areas for Improvement

• Gaps in prior knowledge in some subjects due to recent curriculum changes.
• Reading books not always matched to pupils' phonics knowledge.

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 Southgate Primary attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.7% 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 Southgate Primary 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 Southgate Primary had 20.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 33.1% 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, 20.2% of pupils at Southgate Primary were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.1% 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 Southgate Primary received £7,495 and spent £7,378 for each of its 280 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £244,000 (£870 per pupil).

Across all 42 schools of Glf Schools, income was £7,514 and spending £7,514 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 Crawley · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

Southgate Primary is part of Glf Schools, which runs 43 schools. The nearest others:

• Kilnwood Vale Primary School Horsham
• Forge Wood Primary School Crawley
• Greenway Junior School Horsham
• Salfords Primary School and Nursery Redhill
• Lime Tree Primary School and Nursery Merstham
• Merstham Park School Redhill
• Merstham Primary School Redhill
• Hillcroft Primary School & Nursery Caterham
• de Stafford School Caterham
• The Vale Primary School and Nursery Epsom

What is Southgate Primary's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Southgate Primary is Good, from an inspection in November 2023.

When was Southgate Primary last inspected by Ofsted?

Southgate Primary was last inspected in November 2023.

How many pupils does Southgate Primary have?

Southgate Primary has 267 pupils on roll.

What age range does Southgate Primary cover?

Southgate Primary for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Southgate Primary's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 45% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Southgate Primary?

Southgate Primary is at Barrington Road, Southgate, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 6DG.