Botley School

Botley School is a rapidly improving primary school that, despite its recent advancements, is currently rated as requiring improvement. The leadership team is strong, with effective support from Acer Trust contributing to a stable and purposeful learning environment. However, the quality of education, particularly in key areas such as reading, writing, and mathematics, has not yet met adequate standards, as evidenced by low pupil outcomes in recent national tests. The school is specifically focusing on improving the teaching quality across the curriculum and addressing gaps in pupils' knowledge and skills.

Strengths

• Strong leadership and effective support from the Acer Trust.
• Positive relationships between staff and pupils, contributing to a happy school atmosphere.
• Outstanding personal development curriculum that promotes inclusivity and respect.
• Good behaviour and positive attitudes among pupils.
• Well-planned early years curriculum that engages children and builds knowledge.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent teaching quality across subjects.
• Phonics program not delivered effectively, impacting reading support for weak readers.
• Lack of rigorous evaluation of curriculum delivery leading to unidentified weaknesses.

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 Botley School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.1% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Botley 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 Botley School had 19.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.6% 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, 14.8% of pupils at Botley School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.1% 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 Botley School received £8,487 and spent £8,024 for each of its 209 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £43,000 (£204 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Acer Trust, income was £7,421 and spending £7,382 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 Oxford · Oxfordshire local authority: places and applications

Botley School is part of Acer Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Matthew Arnold School Oxford
• Wood Green School Witney
• Stadhampton Primary School Oxford
• Chalgrove Community Primary School Oxford
• The Cooper School Bicester
• Glory Farm Primary School Bicester
• Icknield Community College Watlington
• Watlington Primary School Watlington

What is Botley School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Botley School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in September 2024.

When was Botley School last inspected by Ofsted?

Botley School was last inspected in September 2024.

How many pupils does Botley School have?

Botley School has 189 pupils on roll.

What age range does Botley School cover?

Botley School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Botley School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Botley School?

Botley School is at Elms Road, Botley, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 9JZ.