Ridgeway Primary Academy, Market Harborough

Ofsted's report card from its 10 February 2026 inspection grades Ridgeway Primary Academy on 7 areas: 3 expected standard and 4 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders have promoted school attendance effectively."

Early years - Expected standard. "With the support of the trust, leaders have improved the quality of the school's early years provision."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "The school has a well-considered programme for pupils' personal development."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Pupils' achievement in national tests, across the curriculum and over time, is inconsistent."

Curriculum and teaching - Needs attention. "Leaders have recently identified weaknesses in the curriculum and have made substantial changes."

Inclusion - Needs attention. "The support that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive is inconsistent."

Leadership and governance - Needs attention. "Leaders and those responsible for governance do not have sufficiently precise information about the quality of the school's provision."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Trustees, governors and leaders should further improve the way they understand the quality of the school's provision. Trustees and governors should use this information to hold leaders strictly to account"; "Leaders at all levels should develop the knowledge and skills they need to carry out their roles effectively"; "Leaders should ensure that staff consistently adapt their teaching to meet the needs of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities"; "Leaders should ensure that staff routinely check what pupils know and can do, including looking for any gaps in foundational knowledge. When staff identify gaps, they should provide timely support so that pupils learn and achieve what leaders intend".

In its own words: "We are committed to providing an excellent education for all and 'forging exceptional individuals'. We offer a broad and varied curriculum alongside a range of extra-curricular activities and excellent sporting opportunities. Our Breakfast Club provides a healthy breakfast and fun activities for children from 7.45am each morning, while our Afterschool Club ensures full wraparound care for your child until 6pm."

The school runs a breakfast club from 7:45am and after-school care until 4:30pm.

Coming up: an open day on Saturday 7 November 2026. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2025, 74% of Year 6 pupils at Ridgeway Primary Academy reached the expected standard in reading and 69% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 78% and 77% in Leicestershire and 77% and 75% across England.

Results fell from 83% in reading and 69% in maths in 2024.

For September 2026 entry, 18 families put Ridgeway Primary Academy as their first choice and 89 named it as one of their preferences, for 20 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state primary schools to Ridgeway Primary Academy are Great Bowden Academy, A Church of England Primary School (0.5 miles, Outstanding, 80% reading, 70% maths); Market Harborough Church of England Academy (0.7 miles, Good, 93% reading, 87% maths); Meadowdale Primary School (0.8 miles, Good, 71% reading, 71% maths); and St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy (0.8 miles, Good, 87% reading, 77% maths).

Ridgeway Primary Academy's 2025 results were higher than 1 of these 4 schools.

Ridgeway Primary Academy is one of 19 schools run by Learn Academies Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's primary schools, 64% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.

53 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Ridgeway Primary Academy (as of April 2026): 72% would recommend the school, 76% say their child is happy there and 33% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (77%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (33%).

11.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 5.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (85%) and Mixed (7%).

In 2026, 30 pupils (12.8%) received SEN support and 16 (6.8%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.

The nearest railway station is Market Harborough Rail Station, about 920 metres away (roughly a 12-minute walk).

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Ridgeway Primary School (opposite), 100 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Ridgeway Primary Academy stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 123 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Leicestershire (58), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Ridgeway Primary Academy issued 4 suspensions, 1.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The secondary schools closest to Ridgeway Primary Academy are The Robert Smyth Academy (0.3 miles) and Welland Park Academy (0.9 miles).