Noremarsh Junior School

Noremarsh Junior School is a good school across all key judgements, having improved since its previous inspection, which judged it as requiring improvement. The inspection took place in July 2025, and the school is part of Ascend Learning Trust. Leaders have managed a period of rapid change well, with staff feeling supported by school and trust leaders, and the curriculum has been significantly improved so that essential knowledge and vocabulary are clearly identified and sequenced. Pupils feel safe, behave well and are highly focused in lessons. The school has a strong reading culture, effective support for pupils with SEND, and a broad personal development offer including enrichment, life skills and careers activities. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement are that grammar and punctuation are not taught well enough in some subjects, meaning some pupils do not apply these skills consistently, and that teachers do not always use assessment information effectively to deepen pupils' understanding and maximise progress.

Strengths

• A strong shared vision of ambition, belonging and compassion underpins the school culture
• Caring staff know pupils well and pupils feel safe and confident to speak to a trusted adult
• Pupils behave well in class and around school and are highly focused in lessons
• The curriculum is well sequenced with essential knowledge and vocabulary clearly identified
• Staff benefit from a wide-ranging professional development programme that improves practice
• The school fosters a strong reading culture with careful matching of books to pupils' levels and interests
• Pupils with SEND are skilfully identified and well supported to work alongside their peers
• Pupils learn important life skills such as problem-solving, leadership and teamwork
• The personal, social and health education programme prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• The teaching of basic writing skills such as punctuation and grammar is not consistently effective
• Some pupils do not apply appropriate grammar and punctuation in written work in some subjects
• Teachers do not always use assessment information effectively enough to deepen pupils' learning
• Some pupils are not supported to achieve as much as they could because assessment is not used well

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 Noremarsh Junior School attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.1% 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, 2.8% of pupils at Noremarsh Junior 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 Noremarsh Junior School had 18.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.0% 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, 17.8% of pupils at Noremarsh Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.9% 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 Noremarsh Junior School received £6,319 and spent £7,089 for each of its 216 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £80,000 (£370 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Ascend Learning Trust, income was £8,018 and spending £8,086 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 Swindon · Wiltshire local authority: places and applications

Noremarsh Junior School is part of Ascend Learning Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Swindon
• Lawn Manor Academy Swindon
• Kingsbury Green Academy Calne
• Wellington Lions Primary Academy Tidworth
• The Wellington Academy Ludgershall
• Wellington Eagles Primary Academy Andover

What is Noremarsh Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Noremarsh Junior School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Noremarsh Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

Noremarsh Junior School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Noremarsh Junior School have?

Noremarsh Junior School has 169 pupils on roll.

What age range does Noremarsh Junior School cover?

Noremarsh Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Noremarsh Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Noremarsh Junior School?

Noremarsh Junior School is at Clarendon Drive, Royal Wootton Bassett, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN4 8BT.