The Mill Primary Academy, Crawley

Ofsted's report card from its 21 April 2026 inspection grades The Mill Primary Academy on 7 areas: 5 expected standard and 2 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Expected standard. "Many pupils achieve well here."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Pupils attend well."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Teachers demonstrate secure subject knowledge."

Early years - Expected standard. "Leaders ensure that provision in the early years is welcoming, happy and effective."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Leaders provide a suitable strategic approach to personal development and wellbeing."

Inclusion - Needs attention. "The school's work to assess and meet the needs of pupils needs attention."

Leadership and governance - Needs attention. "Leaders do not exercise accurate oversight across all areas of the school."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders, governors and trustees must strengthen their oversight of the schools' work to ensure that accurate evaluations identify weaknesses accurately to drive effective improvement"; "Leaders must identify and support the needs of pupils accurately to ensure that provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is consistently effective"; "Leaders should ensure that teachers design and adapt lesson tasks that help pupils to achieve well across all areas of learning"; "Leaders should ensure that teachers identify and address pupils' misconceptions to help them to improve their work successfully"; "Leaders should ensure that staff promote early writing and mathematics more effectively for all children across early years provision".

In 2025, 86% of Year 6 pupils at The Mill Primary Academy reached the expected standard in reading and 83% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 76% and 72% in West Sussex and 77% and 75% across England.

Results were similar in 2024 (87% in reading, 87% in maths).

For September 2026 entry, 53 families put The Mill Primary Academy as their first choice and 151 named it as one of their preferences, for 55 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 The Mill Primary Academy are St Margaret's Church of England Primary School (0.5 miles); Gossops Green Primary (0.5 miles, Good, 76% reading, 70% maths); Waterfield Primary School (0.8 miles, Good, 70% reading, 72% maths); and West Green Primary School (0.8 miles, Good, 60% reading, 53% maths).

The Mill Primary Academy's 2025 results were higher than all 3 of them.

The Mill Primary Academy is one of 45 schools run by The Kemnal Academies Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's primary schools, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.

39% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (55%), Asian (16%) and Mixed (11%).

The nearest railway station is Ifield Rail Station, about 170 metres away (roughly a 2-minute walk).

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Ifield Station (adjacent), 10 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 286 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage and arson. That is well above the typical figure around schools in West Sussex (103), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, The Mill Primary Academy issued 39 suspensions, 7.2 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The secondary schools closest to The Mill Primary Academy are Ifield Community College (0.2 miles); St Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School, Crawley (0.7 miles); and Holy Trinity CofE Secondary School, Crawley (0.8 miles).