Woodgate Primary Academy

Woodgate Primary Academy is a small, inclusive primary school where pupils feel safe, valued, and behave well. Inspectors found that leadership, early years provision, inclusion, personal development, and attendance and behaviour all meet the expected standard, with several notable strengths including strong pastoral care, effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, and a calm, orderly environment. Leaders know the school well, have clear priorities, and benefit from effective governance and trust support.

Strengths

• Pupils attend well, with improving attendance and falling persistent absence
• Bullying and discrimination are not tolerated; pupils trust staff to act quickly
• Early years provision is well led, with a strong curriculum and good outcomes
• Inclusion is a strength: pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are well supported
• Personal development and wellbeing are central to school life, with a rich programme
• Effective leadership and governance, with clear priorities and strong trust support
• Pupils with SEND are well supported with effective training linked to classroom practice
• Staff support emotional regulation and complex needs through nurturing relationships
• The school has a calm, orderly environment where pupils take pride in their school
• Pupils benefit from trips, clubs and leadership roles that build confidence and independence
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve as well as they could overall, with outcomes below national averages
• Weaknesses in essential knowledge, especially spelling, handwriting and grammar, slow progress for some pupils
• Disadvantaged pupils' performance gaps are large, particularly in writing and mathematics
• Staff sometimes do not address basic errors in handwriting and spelling quickly enough
• Some pupils have gaps in knowledge that do not close quickly, limiting readiness for next steps

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 Woodgate Primary Academy attended 92.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.9% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Woodgate 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 Woodgate Primary Academy had 18.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 22.5% of pupils at Woodgate Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 11.8% 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 Woodgate Primary Academy received £8,707 and spent £7,820 for each of its 147 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £200,000 (£1,363 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Sussex Learning Trust, income was £7,040 and spending £7,119 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 Crawley · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

Woodgate Primary Academy is part of Sussex Learning Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Warden Park Secondary Academy Haywards Heath
• Warden Park Primary Academy Haywards Heath
• Northlands Wood Primary Academy Haywards Heath
• The Burgess Hill Academy Burgess Hill
• Billingshurst Primary Academy Billingshurst
• Chichester Free School Chichester

What is Woodgate Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Woodgate Primary Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Woodgate Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Woodgate Primary Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Woodgate Primary Academy have?

Woodgate Primary Academy has 169 pupils on roll.

What age range does Woodgate Primary Academy cover?

Woodgate Primary Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Woodgate Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Woodgate Primary Academy?

Woodgate Primary Academy is at 41 Bellevue Farm Road, Pease Pottage, Crawley, West Sussex, RH11 9GT.