Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy

Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy is a nurturing, welcoming school where staff know pupils well and pupils feel valued. This was its first section 5 inspection, and it is a smaller-than-average Church of England primary in the Collaborative Learning Trust, with mixed-age classes. Inspectors found the school performing well across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years. Safeguarding is effective. The curriculum has been significantly strengthened in recent years, reading is a high priority, children make a strong start in early years, and pupils benefit from a wide range of personal development and extra-curricular opportunities. Leaders, governors and the trust are committed and provide effective support and challenge. However, some curriculum changes are recent, so historic published outcomes do not reflect how well current pupils are prepared. In some subjects, curriculum delivery is inconsistent, leaving pupils with too few opportunities to revisit, apply and deepen knowledge in line with year-group expectations. Support for pupils with SEND is not consistently clear or well implemented, so some do not learn as well as they could. Attendance remains below national figures, meaning too many pupils miss important learning. Overall, the school is moving from strength to strength, with effective safeguarding and strong pastoral and reading provision, but it needs to tighten curriculum implementation, make SEND support more precise and consistent, and continue raising attendance.

Strengths

• Nurturing and welcoming school where staff know pupils well
• Pupils feel valued and take pride in responsibilities such as reading mentors and lunchtime helpers
• Pupils with SEND are fully included in all opportunities
• High expectations for pupils and positive behaviour, with bullying addressed swiftly
• Curriculum has been transformed and is ambitious and well sequenced, including for mixed-age classes
• Reading is a high priority, with children learning to read quickly and fluently
• Early years provision gives children a strong start and prepares them well for Year 1
• Wide range of well-chosen personal development and extra-curricular opportunities
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Strong leadership, governance and trust support with careful workload management

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum delivery is inconsistent in some subjects
• Pupils do not always have enough opportunities to revisit, apply or deepen knowledge in line with year-group expectations
• Some pupils do not build a secure, cumulative knowledge base
• Support for pupils with SEND is not consistent across the school
• Some pupils with SEND do not always benefit from identified strategies or learn as well as they could
• Attendance rates remain below national figures
• Too many pupils are not in school often enough and miss important learning
• Historic published outcomes do not reflect current pupils because curriculum changes are recent

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 Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 30.2% 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 Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy 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 Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy had 22.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.6% 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, 14.7% of pupils at Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.0% 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 Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy received £8,047 and spent £9,306 for each of its 91 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £235,000 (-£2,599 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Collaborative Learning Trust, income was £7,473 and spending £7,337 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 Leeds · Leeds local authority: places and applications

Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy is part of Collaborative Learning Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• St Marys Church of England Primary Academy Leeds
• Bramhope Primary School Leeds
• St. Oswald's CofE Primary School Leeds
• Otley Prince Henry's Grammar School Specialist Language College Otley
• Otley the Whartons Primary School Otley
• Ashfield Primary School Otley
• All Saints CofE Primary School Bradford
• Trinity All Saints CofE VA Primary School Bingley

What is Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy have?

Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy has 102 pupils on roll.

What age range does Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy cover?

Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 17% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy?

Micklefield Church of England Primary Academy is at Great North Road, Micklefield, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS25 4AQ.