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Elmswell Community Primary School

Primary · Bury St Edmunds · IP30 9UE

Data updated

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Good (2016)

Last grade Ofsted published, no newer grade exists

Ofsted graded this school Good in 2016. Every inspection since has been ungraded, and an ungraded inspection cannot change a grade. The most recent found “Standards maintained”. Ofsted's current data file lists only graded inspections from September 2019 onwards, so this grade has dropped out of it, but it is still the school's grade of record, and still on Ofsted's own report page. It is old, so weigh it against the more recent evidence on this page.

Inspected 15 June 2016

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

383 pupils · 91% of 420 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Community school
Age range
3–11
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
19.5% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
3.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
7.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
2.2% of pupils (2024/2025)
Nursery
Yes
Website
http://www.elmswell.suffolk.sch.uk
URN
124534

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 65 families named it first for 59 Reception places, 1.10 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2025 entry went to 1.586 miles; distance decided places in 1 of the 5 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2022 to 2026. The last grade Ofsted published for it is Good, from 2016. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 4.3% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

1.10 first-choice applications per place

59 places offered · 65 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

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: defined priority area. Inside it, last place at 0.557 miles for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2025 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 1.586 miles

measured in a straight line.

Cutoff by admission criterion (2026 entry)

Catchment
0.557 miles

Would you have got in? Check your postcode

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

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

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

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
76%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
5%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
107
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 school76%
Median of its 12 closest peers67%
Suffolk average59.9%
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
Halling Primary SchoolRochester · 65 miles awayGood71%
St Mark's Ecumenical Anglican/Methodist Primary SchoolWeston-Super-Mare · 175 miles awayNo current grade70%
St Mary's CofE Primary SchoolBideford · 235 miles awayGood57%
Riverside Primary SchoolHullbridge · 44 miles awayGood60%
Knebworth Primary and Nursery SchoolKnebworth · 53 miles awayGood64%
Kirkheaton Primary SchoolHuddersfield · 148 miles awayGood47%
Newcroft Primary AcademyLoughborough · 100 miles awayOutstanding88%
Northway Primary SchoolLiverpool · 184 miles awayGood72%
Wybers Wood AcademyGrimsby · 102 miles awayGood85%
Heycroft Primary SchoolLEIGH-on-SEA · 47 miles awayExpected standard43%
Shibden Head Primary AcademyBradford · 156 miles awayGood51%
Much Woolton Catholic Primary SchoolLiverpool · 176 miles awayGood (2016)72%

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

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 88% (Suffolk 76%, England 60%) · Any other Mixed background 5% (Suffolk 3%, England 3%) · Any other White background 2% (Suffolk 7%, England 7%) · Black African 1% (Suffolk 2%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Suffolk 1%, England 2%) · other groups together 3%

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)
4.3%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
10%
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 · Suffolk: 5.10 suspensions and 0.08 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
22.6
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

88% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 12% 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)

60% of teachers took sickness absence, 8.2 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 £48,484; 16.7% 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£5,537
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 79% (76%) · premises 4% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 9% (8%) · supplies and services 7% (9%) · educational supplies 3% (4%) · bought-in professional services 4% (3%) · catering 5% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £215,298; in-year balance +£53,206

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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)
9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher36.1%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications10.8%18.1%
In managerial or professional work44.5%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways8.9%18.1%
Residents in very good health53.4%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier83.4%62.3%
Social housing2.5%17.1%
Privately rented14.1%20.5%
Detached houses47.2%22.9%
Flats3.9%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms35.3%21.1%
Households with no car or van7.4%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01030050 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£306,000248 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£240,000–£425,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (131)£418,000
Semi-detached (57)£260,000
Terraced (54)£230,000
Flat (6)£143,000

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Reception cutoff distance (2.55 km, 2025 entry): 361 sales, median £340,000. 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
2a rural school averages 0.3
Collisions at school-run times
1a rural school averages 0.7
All reported collisions
3a rural school averages 3.4
Of those, serious or fatal
0a rural school averages 0.9

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