Blidworth Oaks Primary School

Blidworth Oaks Primary is a warm and welcoming village school where pupils are happy, polite and conduct themselves very well. Inspectors found the school provides an effective education, with high expectations for behaviour, a strong values-led culture and a broad personal development offer. Children get off to a strong start in the early years, reading and phonics are prioritised, pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported to access the same curriculum as their peers, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Published key stage 2 outcomes in 2024 were below national expectations, but the report says this reflects a revised curriculum that has not been in place long enough to show fully in outcomes; pupils are now catching up more quickly. Attendance is monitored closely, and parents, staff and trust oversight are largely positive. The main areas for improvement are assessment and handwriting. In some subjects, checks on learning focus too much on recent work and do not show whether pupils remember key knowledge over time, making it harder for leaders to evaluate long-term curriculum impact. Handwriting teaching also varies, so some pupils do not secure foundational skills such as accurate letter formation. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the pandemic and its first inspection under section 5 as an academy converter; it is part of East Midlands Education Trust.

Strengths

• Warm and welcoming school culture with strong values embedded across school life
• Pupils behave very well and are polite, kind and respectful
• High expectations for behaviour from the Nursery Year onwards
• Children get off to a flying start in the early years
• High-quality early years curriculum delivered expertly by staff
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported effectively to access the same curriculum
• Reading and phonics are prioritised, with strong published phonics outcomes
• Pupils who fall behind in reading are helped to catch up quickly
• Broad personal development offer including trips and after-school clubs
• Excellent opportunities for pupils to develop leadership skills
• Close monitoring of attendance and work with families to ensure pupils attend regularly
• Strong trust and local governing body oversight
• Staff appreciate strategies to reduce workload and support well-being
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, assessment systems do not check whether pupils remember key knowledge over the longer term
• Leaders cannot fully evaluate the long-term impact of the curriculum in some subjects
• Handwriting teaching varies, leaving some pupils without secure foundational handwriting skills such as accurate letter formation
• Published key stage 2 outcomes in 2024 were below national expectations, although recent curriculum improvements are not yet fully reflected

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 Blidworth Oaks Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.7% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Blidworth Oaks 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 Blidworth Oaks Primary School had 17.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 32.7% 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, 10.9% of pupils at Blidworth Oaks Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.8% 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 Blidworth Oaks Primary School received £7,395 and spent £7,261 for each of its 343 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £205,000 (£597 per pupil).

Across all 23 schools of East Midlands Education Trust, income was £7,496 and spending £7,400 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 Mansfield · Nottinghamshire local authority: places and applications

Blidworth Oaks Primary School is part of East Midlands Education Trust, which runs 23 schools. The nearest others:

• The Joseph Whitaker School Mansfield
• Lake View Primary and Nursery School Mansfield
• Heathlands Primary School Mansfield
• Larkfields Infant School Nottingham
• The Kimberley School Nottingham
• Mornington Primary School Nottingham
• Hollywell Primary School Nottingham
• Gilthill Primary School Nottingham
• Kimberley Primary School Nottingham
• Awsworth Primary and Nursery School Nottingham

What is Blidworth Oaks Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Blidworth Oaks Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Blidworth Oaks Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Blidworth Oaks Primary School have?

Blidworth Oaks Primary School has 366 pupils on roll.

What age range does Blidworth Oaks Primary School cover?

Blidworth Oaks Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Blidworth Oaks Primary School?

Blidworth Oaks Primary School is at Haywood Avenue, Blidworth, Blidworth Oaks Primary School, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, NG21 0RE.