Farmborough Church Primary School

Farmborough Church Primary School is a welcoming, inclusive and high-performing primary where pupils behave well, feel safe and are proud of their school. This was its first routine section 5 inspection, and although no overall effectiveness grade is awarded under the current framework, the school was judged good for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and early years, with personal development singled out as outstanding. The school's vision and values are central to daily life, relationships are warm and respectful, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The curriculum has been recently refined and strengthened, and pupils benefit from strong early reading, clear behaviour routines and an exceptional wider offer that includes clubs, sport and community singing. Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported, attendance is a high priority, and governance and staff well-being are strong. Leaders know the school well and provide a broad, ambitious education. The main areas for improvement are in some less developed subjects: assessment information is not always used precisely to help pupils practise the right skills at the right time, and teaching does not always match pupils' needs well enough for them to build securely on prior knowledge. As a result, some pupils do not always develop coherent knowledge across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Warm, respectful relationships and a calm, purposeful atmosphere
• Pupils are confident, caring and inclusive, and they say bullying is rare
• An exceptional wider offer with high participation in clubs, sport and community singing
• An ambitious, recently refined curriculum from Reception to Year 6
• Strong early reading provision, with pupils reading books matched to known sounds
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and their needs are met
• Clear behaviour expectations that pupils understand and follow
• A sustained focus on attendance, with effective family and agency support
• Effective governance and trust oversight, with attention to staff workload and well-being
• Pupils develop leadership skills and a deep understanding of faiths and cultures
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, assessment information is not used precisely enough to ensure pupils learn and practise the right skills at the right time
• In some subjects, teaching does not always match pupils' needs, so pupils do not always build securely on prior knowledge
• Some pupils do not always build coherent knowledge across the curriculum because of weaker curriculum implementation in less developed subjects

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 Farmborough Church Primary School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.1% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Farmborough Church 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 Farmborough Church Primary School had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.9% 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, 14.4% of pupils at Farmborough Church Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% 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 Farmborough Church Primary School received £7,184 and spent £7,636 for each of its 150 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £18,000 (-£117 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of The Partnership Trust, income was £9,672 and spending £9,897 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 Bath · Bath and North East Somerset local authority: places and applications

Farmborough Church Primary School is part of The Partnership Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Marksbury CofE Primary School Bath
• Cameley CEVC Primary School Bristol
• Paulton Infant School Bristol
• Pensford Primary School Bristol
• Fosse Way School Bath
• Castle Primary School Bristol
• Roundhill Primary School Bath
• St Mary's Church of England Primary School Radstock
• Chew Magna Primary School Bristol
• Moorlands Junior School Bath

What is Farmborough Church Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Farmborough Church Primary School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Farmborough Church Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Farmborough Church Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Farmborough Church Primary School have?

Farmborough Church Primary School has 153 pupils on roll.

What age range does Farmborough Church Primary School cover?

Farmborough Church Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Farmborough Church Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Farmborough Church Primary School?

Farmborough Church Primary School is at The Street, Farmborough, Bath, Somerset, BA2 0FY.