Palfrey Junior School
Dale Street, Walsall, WS1 4AH
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Cheryl Collis
- Federation
- Cadmus Family of Schools
- Constituency
- Walsall and Bloxwich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 360
- Pupils on roll
- 359
- URN
- 104160
- Local authority
- Walsall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01922721092
About this school
Palfrey Junior School is a community primary school in Walsall. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 359 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Palfrey Junior School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 93 | 90 | 87 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 48% | 52% | 49% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 3% | 9% |
| Expected standard in reading | 57% | 70% | 61% |
| Expected standard in maths | 65% | 71% | 68% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 66% | 77% | 72% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.00 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Palfrey Junior School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Walsall average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48% | 56.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 52% | 57.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 49% | 57.2% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 361 |
| 2023/24 | 363 |
| 2024/25 | 361 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Palfrey Junior School compares
Palfrey Junior School ranked 49th of 61 primary schools in Walsall for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 20% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 45% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49% | 5.7% | 49% | 359 | — |
| Palfrey Infant School | — | — | — | 310 | 0.1 miles |
| Whitehall Nursery and Infant Academy | — | — | — | 313 | 0.4 miles |
| Caldmore Primary Academy | 57% | 4.8% | 53.4% | 436 | 0.4 miles |
| Hillary Primary School | — | — | — | 675 | 0.4 miles |
| Whitehall Junior Community School | 70% | 7.2% | 45.8% | 340 | 0.7 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report10 March 2026
- 12 January 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 49.03%
- English as an additional language
- 92.8%
- Overall absence
- 5.67%
- Persistent absence
- 14.97%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Palfrey Infant School0.1 miles
Primary · Walsall
-
Whitehall Nursery and Infant Academy0.4 miles
Primary · Walsall
-
Caldmore Primary Academy0.4 miles
Primary · Walsall
-
Hillary Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Walsall
-
Whitehall Junior Community School0.7 miles
Primary · Walsall
Other schools in Walsall
Palfrey Junior School ranks 42nd of the 51 ranked primary schools in Walsall.
- Abbey Primary School Primary
- All Saints National Academy Primary
- Alumwell Infant School Primary
- Alumwell Junior School Primary
- Beacon Academy Primary
- Bentley West Primary School Primary
- Birchills Church of England Community Academy Primary
- Blue Coat Church of England Aided Infant School Primary
- Blue Coat Church of England Aided Junior School Primary
- Brownhills West Primary School Primary
- Busill Jones Primary School Primary
- Butts Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Palfrey Junior School teach?
- Palfrey Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Walsall.
- Who is the headteacher of Palfrey Junior School?
- The headteacher of Palfrey Junior School is Ms Cheryl Collis, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Palfrey Junior School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Palfrey Junior School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Palfrey Junior School?
- Palfrey Junior School has 359 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Palfrey Junior School full?
- Palfrey Junior School has capacity for 360 pupils and 359 on roll (100%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Palfrey Junior School a faith school?
- No. Palfrey Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Palfrey Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Palfrey Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- Is Palfrey Junior School part of an academy trust?
- Palfrey Junior School is part of the Cadmus Family of Schools federation. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Palfrey Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 48% in 2022/23 and 49% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Palfrey Junior School compare with other schools in Walsall?
- Palfrey Junior School ranked 49th of 61 primary schools in Walsall for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 20% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 45% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Palfrey Junior School's absence rate?
- Palfrey Junior School's overall absence rate is 5.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Palfrey Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Palfrey Junior School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.