Prettygate Junior School
Plume Avenue, Colchester, CO3 4PH
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Mark Millbourne
- Constituency
- Colchester
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 256
- Pupils on roll
- 250
- URN
- 114743
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01206577608
About this school
Prettygate Junior School is a community primary school in Colchester. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 250 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit 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 and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. 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 | 63 | 64 | 64 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 63% | 67% | 77% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 21% | 9% | 9% |
| Expected standard in reading | 70% | 80% | 89% |
| Expected standard in maths | 86% | 77% | 89% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 68% | 66% | 78% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 106.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.80 | - | - |
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 Prettygate 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 | Essex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 63% | 58.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 67% | 59.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 77% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 255 |
| 2023/24 | 254 |
| 2024/25 | 254 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Prettygate Junior School compares
Prettygate Junior School ranked 74th of 388 primary schools in Essex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 59% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 77% | 5% | 16.1% | 250 | — |
| Prettygate Infant School | — | 5.3% | 14.7% | 172 | 0.0 miles |
| Gosbecks Primary School | 53% | 5.4% | 16.9% | 227 | 0.5 miles |
| Kings Ford Academy | 29% | 6.7% | 36.7% | 152 | 0.6 miles |
| King's Ford Infant School and Nursery | — | 5.7% | 32.3% | 154 | 0.6 miles |
| St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Colchester | 74% | 3.7% | 8.3% | 252 | 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)
- 16.14%
- English as an additional language
- 16.5%
- Overall absence
- 5.03%
- Persistent absence
- 11.15%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Prettygate Infant School0.0 miles
Primary · Colchester
-
Gosbecks Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Colchester
-
Kings Ford Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Colchester
-
King's Ford Infant School and Nursery0.6 miles
Primary · Colchester
-
St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Colchester0.7 miles
Primary · Colchester
Other schools in Colchester
Prettygate Junior School ranks 11th 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 year groups does Prettygate Junior School teach?
- Prettygate Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Colchester.
- Who is the headteacher of Prettygate Junior School?
- The headteacher of Prettygate Junior School is Mr Mark Millbourne, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Prettygate Junior School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Prettygate 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 big is Prettygate Junior School?
- Prettygate Junior School has 250 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Prettygate Junior School full?
- Prettygate Junior School has capacity for 256 pupils and 250 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Prettygate Junior School a faith school?
- No. Prettygate Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Prettygate Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Prettygate Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Prettygate Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 63% in 2022/23 and 77% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Prettygate Junior School rank locally?
- Prettygate Junior School ranked 74th of 388 primary schools in Essex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 59% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Prettygate Junior School's absence rate?
- Prettygate Junior School's overall absence rate is 5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Prettygate Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Prettygate 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 30 June 2026.