St Germans Academy

St Germans Academy is a small primary school within Unity Education Trust. Following a full section 5 inspection in May 2026, most areas of the school's work were judged to be at the expected standard, and safeguarding standards are met. Leaders provide effective direction, staff receive strong trust-supported training, and the school has a calm, caring culture. Attendance has improved and is close to national averages, behaviour is generally good, the curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced, early years provision is a strength, and pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are well identified and supported. Pupils benefit from a strong personal development programme and enriching activities such as bushcraft. The main area needing attention is achievement. Over time, pupils have not achieved as well as they should, and national test outcomes in recent years have been below national averages, including Year 6 writing and mathematics, the Year 4 multiplication tables check and the Year 1 phonics check. Some older pupils, particularly in key stage 2, have important gaps in knowledge and are not as well prepared for the next stage as they should be. Disadvantaged pupils perform well below national non-disadvantaged averages across reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders have begun to improve assessment precision and teaching quality, but it is too early to see the full impact. The report also notes that opportunities to revisit prior learning vary across subjects and that some pupils need more support to develop positive attitudes to learning, resilience and independence.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture and pupils feeling safe.
• Attendance and persistent absence have improved steadily and are now close to national averages.
• Behaviour is calm and respectful, and leaders set high expectations.
• The curriculum is ambitious, well sequenced and thoughtfully planned across subjects.
• Early years provision is broad and carefully sequenced, with children making good progress from their starting points.
• Leaders accurately identify barriers to learning and provide effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with strong trust support and high-quality staff development.
• The personal development programme supports pupils' health, safety, relationships and understanding of British values.
• Enrichment activities, including bushcraft, build pupils' teamwork, confidence and resilience.
• Pupils typically learn well in lessons because teaching is calm, purposeful and supportive.
• Staff teach phonics consistently well, supporting pupils' reading accuracy and fluency.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement requires attention because pupils have not achieved as well as they should over time.
• National test outcomes have been below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Some pupils, particularly in key stage 2, have important gaps in knowledge and are not well prepared for the next stage.
• Year 6 writing and mathematics, the Year 4 multiplication tables check and the Year 1 phonics check have been below national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils perform well below national non-disadvantaged averages across reading, writing and mathematics.
• Assessment and teaching improvements are too early to show full impact, and gaps remain for older pupils.
• What pupils know and can remember varies across subjects.
• Opportunities to revisit and consolidate prior learning are not consistent across subjects.
• Some pupils' attitudes to learning are not as positive as they could be, with insufficient opportunities to develop resilience and independence.
• Teaching in reading, writing and mathematics is not yet consistently high quality enough to improve outcomes.
• Pupils do not consistently demonstrate positive attitudes to learning in lessons.

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 St Germans Academy attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.1% 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, 0.9% of pupils at St Germans Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 St Germans Academy had 20.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 30.4% 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, 10.6% of pupils at St Germans Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.8% 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 St Germans Academy received £8,023 and spent £8,206 for each of its 104 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £152,000 (£1,465 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Unity Education Trust, income was £9,934 and spending £10,116 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 King'S Lynn · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

St Germans Academy is part of Unity Education Trust, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• Magdalen Academy King'S Lynn
• Greyfriars Academy Kings Lynn
• King's Oak Academy King'S Lynn
• Highgate Infant School King'S Lynn
• Churchill Park Complex Needs School King'S Lynn
• Wimbotsham and Stow Academy King'S Lynn
• Beeston Primary School King'S Lynn
• Grove House Infant and Nursery School Dereham
• Northgate High School Dereham
• King's Park Infant School, Dereham Dereham

What is St Germans Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Germans Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was St Germans Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Germans Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does St Germans Academy have?

St Germans Academy has 104 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Germans Academy cover?

St Germans Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Germans Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is St Germans Academy?

St Germans Academy is at School Lane, St Germans, King's Lynn, Norfolk, PE34 3DZ.