Cambridge Primary School

Cambridge Primary School is part of South Cumbria Multi Academy Trust and serves a community with well-above-average levels of disadvantage, including high proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with SEND or EHC plans. The school makes use of two alternative provisions, one of which is unregistered. Safeguarding is effective, and pupils say they feel safe, welcomed and well cared for. Behaviour is calm and respectful, inclusion is a clear strength, and personal development and wellbeing are given high priority. Attendance is improving, including for disadvantaged pupils, although it remains below national figures. The school has secure foundations in reading, phonics and mathematics, where teaching is generally clear and pupils recall knowledge well. Leaders understand the school's context and have made positive changes, particularly in attendance and some curriculum areas. However, achievement and teaching require attention because writing, especially spelling and handwriting, is weak across all classes and gaps are not closing quickly enough. The early years curriculum is also not well sequenced, so some children are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be. Leadership and governance require attention because checks on improvement work and the evaluation of plans have not been sharp enough to tackle these weaknesses early. The school is not failing in these areas, and leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements, but consistent action is needed to strengthen writing and the early years curriculum so that all pupils secure the foundational knowledge they need.

Strengths

• Safeguarding arrangements are effective and pupils feel safe.
• Attendance is improving, including for disadvantaged pupils, with persistent absence reducing.
• Behaviour is calm and courteous, and pupils are respectful to adults and each other.
• Bullying is rare and dealt with quickly by staff.
• Inclusion is strong: staff identify needs early and support pupils with SEND well.
• Pupils with SEND typically access the same curriculum as their peers.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is well considered and valued by pupils.
• Pupils learn how to stay safe, build positive relationships and make healthy choices.
• A wide range of clubs, trips, sports, music and community activities builds pupils' confidence.
• Reading, phonics and mathematics teaching is generally clear and well organised.
• Phonics is taught well and pupils read books matched to the sounds they know.
• The wider curriculum is well designed, with lessons that help pupils revisit and build on prior learning.
• Children in the early years settle quickly and benefit from warm, caring relationships.
• Leaders understand the school's context and have secured improvements in attendance and some curriculum areas.
• Governors and trust members are committed and fulfil statutory duties, including safeguarding.
• Parents and carers speak positively about communication and the care offered to their children.

Areas for Improvement

• Writing, especially handwriting and spelling, is weak across all classes and gaps are not closing quickly enough.
• Some pupils do not secure the foundational knowledge they need to express written ideas well.
• Achievement is inconsistent because of weaknesses in writing and spelling.
• Staff do not consistently notice or address pupils' gaps in spelling and handwriting.
• Leaders' oversight of handwriting and spelling across the school is not accurate enough.
• The writing curriculum has not been improved appropriately.
• The early years curriculum lacks clear identification of important knowledge and how it builds over time.
• Early years activities do not always link to clear learning intentions or build on what children already know.
• Information shared with Year 1 teachers does not give enough detail about children's development.
• Some children are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be.
• Leaders have not improved some important areas quickly enough, including writing and early years.
• Leaders' checks and evaluation of improvement plans are not sharp enough to identify weaknesses early.
• Attendance remains below national figures, and overall absence and persistent absence are above national averages.

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 Cambridge Primary School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.3% 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, 1.3% of pupils at Cambridge 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 Cambridge Primary School had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.4% 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, 32.6% of pupils at Cambridge Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.4% 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 Cambridge Primary School received £8,935 and spent £9,005 for each of its 222 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £17,000 (£79 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust, income was £8,046 and spending £8,375 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 Barrow-In-Furness · Westmorland and Furness local authority: places and applications

Cambridge Primary School is part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Newbarns Primary and Nursery School Barrow-In-Furness
• Chetwynde School Barrow-In-Furness
• South Walney Junior School Barrow-In-Furness
• Ormsgill Nursery and Primary School Barrow-In-Furness
• Vickerstown School Barrow-In-Furness

What is Cambridge Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Cambridge Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cambridge Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Cambridge Primary School have?

Cambridge Primary School has 230 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cambridge Primary School cover?

Cambridge Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cambridge Primary School?

Cambridge Primary School is at Cambridge Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, LA13 9RP.