Ambleside Primary School

Ambleside Primary School is a highly ambitious and successful school where leaders, staff and the trust share a clear vision and strong moral purpose. Pupils do well, feel safe and are happy, and their behaviour and attitudes to learning are strong. The curriculum is well structured and consistently taught, reading is a particular strength, and pupils with SEND receive highly ambitious support, including through the on-site Dolphin Pod. Safeguarding is effective. The school’s personal development, leadership and early years provision are exceptional. Pupils benefit from a wide range of character-building and community opportunities, and children in early years get a strong start because of skilled staff and high expectations. Leaders are well supported by Raleigh Education Trust. The main area for improvement is that, in a few subjects, pupils do not get enough opportunities to deepen their understanding. This contributes to few pupils reaching the higher standard in reading and mathematics by the end of key stage 2. The inspection was the school’s second routine inspection since the pandemic and followed a previous requires improvement judgment.

Strengths

• Highly ambitious vision shared by leaders, staff and the trust
• Strong relationships with pupils, parents and carers
• Calm classrooms where pupils concentrate and persevere
• Well-structured, consistently taught curriculum with effective staff training
• Highly consistent reading teaching that develops fluent readers
• Exceptional personal development and community contribution opportunities
• Exceptional early years provision with skilled staff and high expectations
• Highly ambitious SEND support, including the Dolphin Pod enhanced provision
• Pupils behave well and have exceptionally positive attitudes to learning
• Strong leadership with a clear moral purpose and effective trust support
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, pupils lack sufficient opportunities to deepen their understanding of the curriculum.
• Few pupils reach the higher standard in reading and mathematics by the end of key stage 2.

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 Ambleside Primary School attended 92.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.5% 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, 2.2% of pupils at Ambleside 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 Ambleside Primary School had 21.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.5% 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, 17.5% of pupils at Ambleside Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.4% 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 Ambleside Primary School received £6,959 and spent £7,989 for each of its 620 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,485,000 (£4,009 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Raleigh Education Trust, income was £11,428 and spending £11,356 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 Nottingham · Nottingham local authority: places and applications

Ambleside Primary School is part of Raleigh Education Trust, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• Woodlands Academy Nottingham
• Willowfield Academy Nottingham
• Ash Lea Academy Cotgrave
• Lady Jane Grey Primary School Leicester

What is Ambleside Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ambleside Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Ambleside Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ambleside Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Ambleside Primary School have?

Ambleside Primary School has 629 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ambleside Primary School cover?

Ambleside Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 58% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ambleside Primary School?

Ambleside Primary School is at Minver Crescent, Aspley, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG8 5PN.