SchoolFacts.uk

The Willows Primary School

Primary · Stoke-on-Trent · ST4 7JY

Data updated

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Good

SchoolFacts estimate: Ofsted awarded no overall grade at this inspection

We show the lowest of the four areas Ofsted did judge, listed below. Why some schools have no overall grade →

Quality of education: GoodBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 10 June 2025

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

689 pupils · 100% of 690 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Community school
Age range
3–11
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
24.4% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
22.6% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
13.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
2.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
Nursery
Yes
Website
www.willowsprimary.com
URN
123999

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 72 families named it first for 76 Reception places, 0.95 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2025 entry went to 0.894 miles; distance decided places in 1 of the 2 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2025 to 2026. At its inspection on 10 June 2025 Ofsted awarded no overall grade; the lowest of the four areas it judged was Good. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 4.1% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.95 first-choice applications per place

76 places offered · 72 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2025 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 0.894 miles

measured in a straight line.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

92 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
73%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
12%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
108
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
107
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025

This school73%
Median of its 12 closest peers66%
Stoke-on-Trent average61.6%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedResult
Heatherlands Primary SchoolPoole · 157 miles awayGood58%
Lessness Heath Primary SchoolBelvedere · 145 miles awayGood63%
Aragon Primary SchoolMorden · 140 miles awayNo current grade85%
Hampton Vale Primary AcademyPeterborough · 87 miles awayGood73%
Little Thurrock Primary SchoolGrays · 150 miles awayGood64%
Talbot Primary SchoolPoole · 157 miles awayExpected standard64%
Olton Primary SchoolSolihull · 42 miles awayGood68%
Pheasey Park Farm Primary School and Early Years CentreBirmingham · 33 miles awayGood68%
Westlands Community Primary SchoolChelmsford · 142 miles awayGood77%
Crown Wood Primary SchoolBracknell · 127 miles awayNeeds attention63%
Two Mile Hill Primary SchoolBristol · 107 miles awayRequires improvement56%
Carfield Primary SchoolSheffield · 39 miles awayStrong standard78%

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Special educational needs

Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.

Provision type: Resourced provision.

Resourced provision
8 of 10 places taken nearly full

Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 63% (Stoke-on-Trent 57%, England 60%) · Asian Pakistani 9% (Stoke-on-Trent 12%, England 5%) · Asian Indian 5% (Stoke-on-Trent 3%, England 4%) · Black African 5% (Stoke-on-Trent 8%, England 5%) · Any other White background 4% (Stoke-on-Trent 5%, England 7%) · Any other Asian background 4% (Stoke-on-Trent 3%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 3% (Stoke-on-Trent 3%, England 3%) · Not recorded 2% (Stoke-on-Trent 0%, England 1%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Stoke-on-Trent 2%, England 3%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Stoke-on-Trent 1%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Stoke-on-Trent 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Stoke-on-Trent 1%, England 2%) · other groups together 1%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
4.1%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
9.9%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

0.00 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Stoke-on-Trent: 1.94 suspensions and 0.02 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
28
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

91% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 8% moved to another state school · 2% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained primaries: 0.18% vacant, 0.36% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

51.6% of teachers took sickness absence, 7.4 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £50,384; 10.3% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2025-26)

This school£6,169
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 77% (76%) · premises 7% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 10% (8%) · supplies and services 6% (9%) · educational supplies 3% (4%) · bought-in professional services 2% (3%) · catering 6% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £387,817; in-year balance +£67,169

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
7/10less deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher31.2%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications20%18.1%
In managerial or professional work30.9%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways20%18.1%
Residents in very good health39.9%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier59.9%62.3%
Social housing18%17.1%
Privately rented21.8%20.5%
Detached houses8.1%22.9%
Flats14.5%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms8.4%21.1%
Households with no car or van24.2%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01014295 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£140,000439 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£94,500–£210,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (43)£355,000
Semi-detached (143)£188,000
Terraced (174)£124,000
Flat (79)£75,000

Homes around this school are among the cheapest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Reception cutoff distance (1.44 km, 2025 entry): 759 sales, median £140,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
0an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
1an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
5an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
2an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools