Widcombe Infant School, Bath
Widcombe Infant School is a primary school for pupils aged 5 to 7 in Bath, part of Palladian Academy Trust. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in November 2021. For 2026 entry it had 1.3 first-choice applications for every place. It was full in 2025.
- Ofsted
- Good (2021)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- Attendance
- Better than England average
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 80 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Bath and North East Somerset (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
Widcombe Infant School in detail
Widcombe Infant School in its own words
Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, netball, rugby, hockey, cricket, athletics, gymnastics, yoga, dance and drama.
The school runs a breakfast club and after-school care.
Clubs (school website)Wraparound care (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Getting a place at Widcombe Infant School
For September 2026 entry, 76 families put Widcombe Infant School as their first choice and 174 named it as one of their preferences, for 60 places offered. That is 1.3 first choices for every place. 18 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Admissions history and your chances at Widcombe Infant School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Widcombe Infant School are Widcombe CofE Junior School (under 0.1 miles, Outstanding, 95% reading, 97% maths); Bathwick St Mary Church School (0.8 miles, Good, 82% reading, 85% maths); St Andrew's Church School (0.9 miles, Good, 81% reading, 67% maths); and St John's Catholic Primary School (1.1 miles).
Widcombe CofE Junior SchoolBathwick St Mary Church SchoolSt Andrew's Church SchoolSt John's Catholic Primary School
The trust
Widcombe Infant School is one of 13 schools run by Palladian Academy 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.
What parents say
137 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Widcombe Infant School (as of April 2026): 99% would recommend the school, 99% say their child is happy there and 80% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (99%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (80%).
Who goes there
9.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 15 pupils (8.2%) received SEN support and 8 (4.4%) 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 a moderate learning difficulty.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Bath Spa Rail Station, about 200 metres away (roughly a 2-minute walk).
25 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Pulteney Court (n-bound), 130 metres away.
The area around the school
In August 2026, police recorded 543 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 Bath and North East Somerset (86), as is usual near a town centre.
Suspensions and exclusions
Widcombe Infant School recorded no suspensions or permanent exclusions in 2024/25.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to Widcombe Infant School are Beechen Cliff School (0.5 miles), Hayesfield Girls School (0.8 miles), Ralph Allen School (1.4 miles) and St Mark's CofE School (1.4 miles).
Beechen Cliff SchoolHayesfield Girls SchoolRalph Allen SchoolSt Mark's CofE School
Sources: DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE multi-academy trust performance data; Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Bath and North East Somerset published that the last place for 2026 entry went to a family 0.966 miles away (straight line). The cut-off moves every year.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 9 months agoReport card - no single overall grade (Ofsted's framework since November 2025)
Safeguarding standards: met
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's January 2026 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
This is a warm, nurturing school where children thrive both academically and emotionally. Staff know pupils well and create genuine positive relationships that help every child feel they belong. The school excels at supporting pupils with additional needs alongside their peers, with excellent phonics teaching and a strong focus on children's mental health and wellbeing.
Key Strengths
- Exceptional inclusion practice with high expectations for vulnerable pupils and those with special educational needs
- Strong pastoral support and emotional wellbeing programmes that help pupils manage their feelings
- Excellent phonics teaching with pupils consistently achieving above national average
- Well-designed, ambitious curriculum that is generally taught well with good subject knowledge
- Inclusive culture where every pupil develops a clear sense of belonging and feels safe
Areas for Improvement
- Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could in wider curriculum subjects because they are not fully supported to deepen understanding and make links to prior learning
- Some learning activities do not match pupils' needs as well as they could, hindering depth of knowledge in a few subjects
- Some early years interactions do not extend children's vocabulary enough to support language development
Safeguarding
Safeguarding standards are met - leaders have established an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed, making pupils safer and helping them feel safe.
Extracurricular Activities
Daily mile, extra-curricular clubs, charity events such as Reindeer Run, visits to local residential home
Widcombe Infant School is a highly inclusive school where leaders and staff have high expectations for all pupils, particularly the most vulnerable, ensuring they flourish academically and personally. The school creates a strong culture of belonging with effective safeguarding and ambitious provision across the curriculum.
At a Glance
9.3%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
137 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at April 2026 - % who strongly agree or agree
Class Sizes
30.0
Avg class size
30.0
Infant (KS1)
4
Total classes
1 class with more than 30 pupils
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Latest from Widcombe Infant School
Sports Day 2026
29 Jun 2026
World Book Day 2026
5 Mar 2026
Christmas Production Born In A Barn
10 Dec 2025
Reindeer Run
2 Dec 2025
Remembrance Day 2025
11 Nov 2025
Bath Rotary Firework Poster Competition
6 Nov 2025
From Widcombe Infant School's website. School Signal is not affiliated with the school.
Social & online
Keep up with Widcombe Infant School
Before and after school care
Clubs on Ofsted's childcare register at or near Widcombe Infant School.
- Mulberry Garden After School ClubAt the school · Not yet graded
- Paragon SuperPirates840m away · Not yet graded
Term dates
Widcombe Infant School is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Bath and North East Somerset's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Widcombe Infant School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Widcombe Infant School is in Bath and North East Somerset; for families living there:
- Bath and North East Somerset's school travel policy: School Travel Policy for compulsory school age children
- How to apply: Apply for free school transport
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 31
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 8
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 31 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 8 serious and 23 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot.
3 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Bath and North East Somerset is 4.5 (the median across 94 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Widcombe Infant School
Will you get a place at Widcombe Infant School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Widcombe Infant School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Widcombe Infant School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Widcombe Infant School.
- Last distance offered for 2024 to 2026 entry, from Bath and North East Somerset's own figures, and how your distance compares each year.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Widcombe Infant School for 2017 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Bath and North East Somerset got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
100%
Full
180 pupils
180 places
No spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Bath
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Bath
Across Bath and North East Somerset council
Places available
2,107
Applications
1,625
Got 1st preference
94.1%
Got preferred school
98.8%
All primary applications across Bath and North East Somerset council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(4)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
15
SEN Support
8
EHC Plans
12.6%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
182
Total Pupils
93
Boys
89
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
10
Teachers
18.2:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£53,105
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£5,343
Per pupil
£1041k
Total funding
£29k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
4.1%
Overall absence
4.7%
Persistent absence
127
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
Widcombe Infant School
Questions parents ask about Widcombe Infant School
What is Widcombe Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Widcombe Infant School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in January 2026, produced a report card, which grades each area but gives no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in November 2021, it was rated Good.
How close to Widcombe Infant School do you need to live?
Bath and North East Somerset publishes how far the last offered place was, in miles: 2.169 for 2024 entry, then 0.944 for 2025 entry, then 0.966 for 2026 entry. The cut-off has tightened over that period, which usually means demand is growing faster than places. These are the authority's own figures, not a fixed boundary - the cut-off moves with the number of applications each year.
Is it hard to get a place at Widcombe Infant School?
Widcombe Infant School was full in 2025, at 100% of its capacity, so places are allocated on the oversubscription criteria.
How big are the classes at Widcombe Infant School?
Classes at Widcombe Infant School average 30 pupils (2025/26). 1 class has more than 30 pupils - infant classes are capped at 30 by law, with limited exceptions.
How many pupils go to Widcombe Infant School?
Widcombe Infant School has around 182 pupils on roll. 9% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Widcombe Infant School?
4.1% of sessions were missed at Widcombe Infant School in 2024/25. 4.7% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Widcombe Infant School?
Apply through Bath and North East Somerset's coordinated admissions process, naming Widcombe Infant School on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
Does Widcombe Infant School have a breakfast club or after-school club?
Ofsted's childcare register lists an out-of-school club at the school: Mulberry Garden After School Club (registered, not yet graded). There is another within a kilometre. The school may also run its own clubs, which don't have to register with Ofsted.
How many road collisions happen near Widcombe Infant School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 31 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 8 serious and 23 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot. 3 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Bath and North East Somerset is 4.5 (the median across 94 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Widcombe Infant School?
Widcombe Infant School is at Archway Street, Bath, Somerset, BA2 4JG.
Sources: Bath and North East Somerset admissions booklets; Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)