Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School

Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School is a small primary that has undergone significant change since becoming an academy in 2023. Inspectors found that leaders have managed this period well and brought about rapid improvement. The school has a caring, calm and warm culture, pupils are proud to attend, behaviour has improved markedly, and bullying is rare. Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and for disadvantaged pupils is a particular strength, and pupils benefit from a rich personal development, pastoral and enrichment offer. Achievement is improving and pupils achieve well overall, including pupils with SEND. However, national test outcomes in reading and writing were below national averages in 2024/25. The curriculum is clear and sequenced, but teaching does not consistently use checks on learning to deepen pupils' knowledge, and newer approaches to improving reading and writing are not yet embedded across the school. Attendance has improved, but overall absence remains above the national average and leaders know more work is needed to reduce absence and persistent absence further. The school is part of All Saints Schools Trust and serves a small cohort with above-average disadvantage and a well-above-average proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans. Safeguarding standards are met. Inspectors identified next steps around adaptive teaching, embedding reading and writing approaches, and continuing to improve attendance.

Strengths

• High-quality, precise support helps pupils with SEND achieve very well from their starting points.
• Leaders use additional funding effectively to help disadvantaged pupils thrive and access enrichment.
• Leadership and governance have managed significant change well and driven rapid improvement.
• Staff and parents are highly positive about the school's transformation and leadership.
• Pupils benefit from a rich personal development offer, including sport, music and community visits.
• Pastoral support is strong and closely tailored to pupils' wellbeing needs.
• Behaviour has improved markedly, lessons are calm, and pupils show kindness to each other.
• Early years provision gets children off to a good start, especially in language and phonics.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive safeguarding culture.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching does not consistently use checks on learning to adapt teaching and help pupils deepen their knowledge.
• Revised approaches to improving pupils' reading and writing are not yet consistently embedded across the school.
• Overall absence remains above the national average, and persistent absence needs to continue reducing.
• National test outcomes in reading and writing were below national averages in 2024/25.

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 Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.8% 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, 4.0% of pupils at Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School had 15.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 29.4% 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, 18.2% of pupils at Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 14.3% 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 Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School received £9,249 and spent £9,869 for each of its 75 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £120,000 (£1,600 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of All Saints Schools Trust, income was £7,585 and spending £7,909 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 Saxmundham · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School is part of All Saints Schools Trust, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

• Dennington Church of England Primary School Woodbridge
• Charsfield Church of England Primary School Woodbridge
• All Saints Church of England Primary School, Laxfield Woodbridge
• Stradbroke Church of England Primary School Eye
• Fressingfield Church of England Primary School Eye
• Occold Primary School Eye
• Thorndon Church of England Primary School Eye
• St Peter and St Paul Church of England Primary School, Eye Eye
• Wortham Primary School Diss
• Cockfield Church of England Primary School Bury St Edmunds

What is Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School have?

Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School has 77 pupils on roll.

What age range does Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School cover?

Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School?

Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School is at School Lane, Benhall, Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 1HE.