Bassenthwaite Primary School

Bassenthwaite Primary School is a very small rural primary in the Keswick School Multi Academy Trust. Inspectors found it is performing well overall: inclusion is a standout strength, and the school meets expected standards across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, leadership and governance, and personal development. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils are proud of their friendly school, feel safe and are well prepared for the next stage of education. Pupils achieve well over time, with outcomes above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics and particularly strong phonics. Attendance is above national figures and persistent absence is below average. Behaviour is calm and purposeful, and pupils benefit from a broad personal development programme, strong pastoral care and a wide range of enrichment opportunities. Leaders and governors have clear priorities and have strengthened the curriculum and teaching, especially in early reading, writing and mathematics. The main areas for improvement are handwriting, which remains inconsistent because practice is not consistently well matched, and curriculum planning in some subjects, where the key knowledge for different year groups is not yet defined precisely enough. Leaders are already working on these refinements. Overall, this is an inclusive and effective school that is continuing to improve.

Strengths

• Inclusion is highly effective, with leaders identifying needs quickly and removing barriers so pupils can take part fully.
• Pupils achieve well over time, with published outcomes above national averages and strong phonics results.
• Attendance is a clear success, above national figures, with persistent absence below the national average.
• Behaviour is calm and purposeful, supported by warm relationships and effective staff training.
• Teaching is well delivered, with secure subject knowledge, clear explanations and effective recap and questioning.
• Early years provision gives children a nurturing start and prepares them well for Year 1.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with clear priorities, strong staff support and careful consideration of workload.
• Personal development is broad, covering safety, wellbeing, enrichment and community contribution.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
• The school makes careful use of additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils and pupils with barriers to learning.

Areas for Improvement

• Handwriting is inconsistent because pupils do not receive enough regular, well-matched practice, so errors persist.
• In some curriculum areas, the knowledge different year groups should learn is not defined precisely enough, limiting how deeply pupils deepen their learning.

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 2023–24 pupils at Bassenthwaite Primary School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.5%). 19.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 14.6%).

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 Bassenthwaite 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 Bassenthwaite Primary School had 8.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 40.0% 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, 4.2% of pupils at Bassenthwaite Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% 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 Bassenthwaite Primary School received £17,522 and spent £17,043 for each of its 23 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £103,000 (£4,478 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Keswick School Multi Academy Trust, income was £8,273 and spending £8,555 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 Keswick · Cumberland local authority: places and applications

Bassenthwaite Primary School is part of Keswick School Multi Academy Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Keswick School Keswick

What is Bassenthwaite Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bassenthwaite Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Bassenthwaite Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bassenthwaite Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Bassenthwaite Primary School have?

Bassenthwaite Primary School has 24 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bassenthwaite Primary School cover?

Bassenthwaite Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

Where is Bassenthwaite Primary School?

Bassenthwaite Primary School is at Bassenthwaite, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 4QH.