Bridlewood Primary School

Bridlewood Primary School is a 226-pupil primary within The Park Academies Trust. In this full section 5 inspection, safeguarding standards were met and the school was found to be meeting expected standards across the evaluated areas. Pupils are happy, feel safe and belong to a welcoming, inclusive community; behaviour is calm and purposeful, attendance is a priority, and persistent absence is falling. Leaders have an accurate view of the school and clear improvement priorities. The curriculum is generally well designed and taught, early years provision is strong, and pupils with SEND are well supported and included. Personal development is rich, with notable strength in sport, art and music, and governance and trust oversight are effective. The main areas for development are ensuring teachers consistently use assessment and prior knowledge to address misconceptions, and implementing the handwriting strategy consistently so pupils' letter formation meets leaders' high expectations. Published data also shows higher-attaining pupils are not yet in line with the national average in reading, and disadvantage gaps against non-disadvantaged national figures remain in some measures.

Strengths

• Welcoming, inclusive community where pupils feel safe and develop a strong sense of belonging
• Calm and purposeful behaviour culture with polite, respectful pupils
• Attendance is a priority, with early intervention and falling persistent absence
• Curriculum is generally well designed and sequenced, with effective teaching in many areas
• Strong early years provision, especially communication, language and early reading
• Effective support and inclusion for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Rich personal development programme with strong sport, art and music opportunities
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of strengths and clear improvement priorities
• Governance and trust oversight provide effective challenge and support
• Parents speak positively, particularly about SEND provision

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not always revisit prior learning before new content, so some pupils struggle to link new learning to what they already know
• Assessment information is not used consistently to identify and address misconceptions
• Handwriting strategy is not implemented consistently, leaving some pupils' handwriting and letter formation below leaders' high expectations
• Higher-attaining pupils do not achieve in line with the national average in reading
• Published data shows a wide disadvantage gap against non-disadvantaged national figures in combined reading, writing and maths and in maths

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 Bridlewood Primary School attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.8% 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, 0.4% of pupils at Bridlewood 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 Bridlewood Primary School had 22.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.1% 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, 13.1% of pupils at Bridlewood Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% 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 Bridlewood Primary School received £6,975 and spent £6,877 for each of its 218 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £178,000 (£819 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Park Academies Trust, income was £8,113 and spending £8,070 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 · Swindon local authority: places and applications

Bridlewood Primary School is part of The Park Academies Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Orchid Vale Primary School Swindon
• Abbey Park School Swindon
• Red Oaks Primary School Swindon
• Lydiard Park Academy Swindon
• The Deanery CofE Academy Swindon
• Kingfisher CE Academy Swindon
• Highworth Warneford School Swindon

What is Bridlewood Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bridlewood Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Bridlewood Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bridlewood Primary School was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Bridlewood Primary School have?

Bridlewood Primary School has 213 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bridlewood Primary School cover?

Bridlewood Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bridlewood Primary School?

Bridlewood Primary School is at Chartwell Road, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN25 2EX.