Gosbecks Primary School
Owen Ward Close, Shrub End, Colchester, CO2 9DG
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Mark Millbourne
- Constituency
- Colchester
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 285
- Pupils on roll
- 227
- URN
- 114742
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01206575407
About this school
Gosbecks Primary School is a community primary school in Colchester. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 227 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Gosbecks Primary 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 7 February 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 44 | 46 | 45 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 70% | 46% | 53% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 16% | 11% | 11% |
| Expected standard in reading | 82% | 57% | 71% |
| Expected standard in maths | 86% | 65% | 60% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 80% | 74% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 102.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.70 | - | - |
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 Gosbecks Primary 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 | Essex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 70% | 58.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 46% | 59.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 53% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 280 |
| 2023/24 | 265 |
| 2024/25 | 248 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Gosbecks Primary School compares
Gosbecks Primary School ranked 297th of 388 primary schools in Essex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53% | 5.4% | 16.9% | 227 | — |
| Prettygate Junior School | 77% | 5% | 16.1% | 250 | 0.5 miles |
| Prettygate Infant School | — | 5.3% | 14.7% | 172 | 0.5 miles |
| Kings Ford Academy | 29% | 6.7% | 36.7% | 152 | 0.5 miles |
| King's Ford Infant School and Nursery | — | 5.7% | 32.3% | 154 | 0.5 miles |
| St Michael's Primary School and Nursery, Colchester | 56% | 5.7% | 28.5% | 228 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 16.94%
- English as an additional language
- 3.6%
- Overall absence
- 5.4%
- Persistent absence
- 11.79%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Prettygate Junior School0.5 miles
Primary · Colchester
-
Prettygate Infant School0.5 miles
Primary · Colchester
-
Kings Ford Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Colchester
-
King's Ford Infant School and Nursery0.5 miles
Primary · Colchester
-
St Michael's Primary School and Nursery, Colchester0.7 miles
Primary · Colchester
Other schools in Colchester
Gosbecks Primary School ranks 54th of the 66 ranked primary schools in Colchester.
- Alresford Primary School Primary
- Ardleigh St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Baynards Primary School Primary
- Birch Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Boxted St Peter's Church of England School Primary
- Braiswick Primary School Primary
- Brightlingsea Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Brinkley Grove Primary School Primary
- Broomgrove Infant School Primary
- Broomgrove Junior School Primary
- Camulos Academy Primary
- Chappel CofE Controlled Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Gosbecks Primary School teach?
- Gosbecks Primary School teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Colchester.
- Who is the headteacher of Gosbecks Primary School?
- The headteacher of Gosbecks Primary School is Mr Mark Millbourne, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Gosbecks Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Gosbecks Primary 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 Gosbecks Primary School?
- Gosbecks Primary School has 227 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is Gosbecks Primary School full?
- Gosbecks Primary School has capacity for 285 pupils and 227 on roll (80%), so it has space against 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 Gosbecks Primary School a faith school?
- No. Gosbecks Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Gosbecks Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Gosbecks Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Gosbecks Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 70% in 2022/23 and 53% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Gosbecks Primary School compare with other schools in Essex?
- Gosbecks Primary School ranked 297th of 388 primary schools in Essex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Gosbecks Primary School's absence rate?
- Gosbecks Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Gosbecks Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Gosbecks Primary 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 30 June 2026.