Carlton Mills

Carlton Mills is performing well, with an overall effectiveness rating of 'Good' across various domains. The school has created a positive and supportive environment where pupils are happy and take pride in their achievements. Notably, early years provision is rated as 'Outstanding', with staff effectively fostering language and social skills among children. Leaders demonstrate ambition for all pupils, including those from diverse backgrounds who often join the school mid-year. While attendance is improving, there are still challenges in ensuring all pupils attend regularly.

Strengths

• Positive and supportive environment for pupils
• Outstanding early years provision
• Well-managed behaviour leading to a calm atmosphere
• Strong focus on improving pupils' love for reading
• Inclusive culture that celebrates diversity

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent retention of knowledge in subjects like geography and history
• Targets for pupils with SEND are not clear or precise enough

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 Carlton Mills attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 33.4% 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, 3.9% of pupils at Carlton Mills 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 Carlton Mills had 17.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 22.1% 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, 11.1% of pupils at Carlton Mills were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.1% 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 Carlton Mills received £7,350 and spent £7,085 for each of its 293 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £737,000 (£2,519 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Carlton Academy Trust, income was £10,469 and spending £10,312 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 Bradford · Bradford local authority: places and applications

Carlton Mills is part of Carlton Academy Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• High Park School Bradford
• Carlton Bolling Bradford
• Marshfield Primary Bradford
• Thorpe Primary Bradford
• Beechcliffe Special School Keighley
• Carlton Keighley Keighley
• Oulton Academy Leeds

What is Carlton Mills's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Carlton Mills is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was Carlton Mills last inspected by Ofsted?

Carlton Mills was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does Carlton Mills have?

Carlton Mills has 287 pupils on roll.

What age range does Carlton Mills cover?

Carlton Mills for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Carlton Mills's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Carlton Mills?

Carlton Mills is at Scotchman Road, Manningham, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD9 5AT.