Great Bardfield Primary School, Braintree
Data last updated 11 Sept 2026
Location
Estimated admission likelihood based on school density and oversubscription data
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 5 months agoReport card - no overall grade (new Ofsted framework from Sep 2024)
Ofsted Insights
What This School Does Well
Great Bardfield is a happy, inclusive school where children thrive and feel safe. Attendance is excellent and pupils show strong achievement, especially in reading and mathematics. The school prioritises enrichment experiences and personal development, with weekly enrichment afternoons teaching life skills and varied opportunities to develop talents in sports, music and creativity.
Key Strengths
- Pupils achieve above national averages in phonics and multiplication tables, with particularly strong progress for disadvantaged pupils
- Excellent attendance rates, especially for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND
- Well-established phonics programme taught with precision
- Strong inclusive culture with clear vision that all pupils should achieve their potential
- New English curriculum having positive impact on pupils' writing development
Areas for Improvement
- Curriculum adaptations for different learners are not always applied consistently or effectively in lessons
- Some pupils' basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics are not always well embedded
- Targeted support for some pupils is not having the positive impact leaders would like
- Learning tasks do not always enable pupils to show their knowledge and understanding clearly
- Staff need further development in adaptive teaching to ensure work is consistently well matched to pupils' needs
Safeguarding
Safeguarding standards are met, with leaders establishing an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified and managed, making pupils safer and helping them feel safe.
Extracurricular Activities
Weekly enrichment afternoons with life skills training, school council, eco council, wellbeing council, musical instruments (tenor horn, keyboard, electric guitar), trips to Kew Gardens and seaside, visits to local care home, team-building activities, cooking and craft
Great Bardfield Primary School is an inclusive school where pupils are happy, well-behaved, and make steady progress across the curriculum. Leaders have created a sequenced curriculum with high expectations, though some opportunities to secure foundational knowledge and consistent adaptive teaching could be strengthened.
At a Glance
18.8%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2025/26KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has declined from 86% to 70%. Maths has declined from 86% to 70%. Writing has declined from 86% to 50%.
Class Sizes
24.8
Avg class size
5
Total classes
2024/25 academic year
Latest from Great Bardfield Primary School
From Great Bardfield Primary School's website. School Signal is not affiliated with the school.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
65%
Available places
117 pupils
180 capacity
63 spare places available
Area Demand Pressure - Braintree
Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Braintree
Admissions Demand - Essex
Places available
17,913
Applications
15,619
Got 1st preference
90.3%
Got preferred school
98.4%
Primary admissions across Essex (2025/26)
Inspection History(8)
House Prices
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SEN Provision
How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.
Pupil Demographics
The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.
Teachers & Staff
Teacher qualification rates, pupil-to-teacher ratio, staff turnover, and salary data. Shows how well-resourced and stable the school's workforce is.
School Funding
Annual funding per pupil, total budget, pupil premium grants, and how the school's resources compare to similar schools nationally.
Pupil Absence2024/25
4.47618%
Overall absence
7.27273%
Persistent absence
110
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
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