Great Leighs Primary School
Aragon Road, Great Leighs, Chelmsford, CM3 1RP
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr James Garlick
- Constituency
- North West Essex
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 197
- URN
- 114852
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01245361254
About this school
Great Leighs Primary School is a community primary school in Chelmsford. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 197 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 12 July 2023, 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 | 45 | 30 | 33 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 71% | 57% | 52% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 20% | 10% | 6% |
| Expected standard in reading | 96% | 63% | 79% |
| Expected standard in maths | 89% | 73% | 67% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 87% | 80% | 67% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.20 | - | - |
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 Great Leighs 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 | 71% | 58.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 57% | 59.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 52% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 225 |
| 2023/24 | 215 |
| 2024/25 | 205 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Great Leighs Primary School compares
Great Leighs Primary School ranked 308th of 388 primary schools in Essex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52% | 4.9% | 11.7% | 197 | — |
| White Court School | 64% | 4.9% | 15.9% | 550 | 2.3 miles |
| Notley Green Primary School | 66% | 3.7% | 11.7% | 401 | 2.8 miles |
| Little Waltham Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 70% | 5.7% | 15% | 206 | 2.9 miles |
| Terling Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 57% | 3.8% | 8.5% | 99 | 2.9 miles |
| Ford End Church of England Primary School | 64% | 8.4% | 26.6% | 47 | 3.2 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)
- 11.71%
- English as an additional language
- 1.5%
- Overall absence
- 4.86%
- Persistent absence
- 10.16%
Location
Nearby schools
-
White Court School2.3 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
Notley Green Primary School2.8 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
Little Waltham Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School2.9 miles
Primary · Chelmsford
-
Terling Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School2.9 miles
Primary · Chelmsford
-
Ford End Church of England Primary School3.2 miles
Primary · Chelmsford
Other schools in Chelmsford
Great Leighs Primary School ranks 39th of the 46 ranked primary schools in Chelmsford.
- Baddow Hall Infant School Primary
- Baddow Hall Junior School Primary
- Barnes Farm Primary School Primary
- Beehive Lane Community Primary School Primary
- Boreham Primary School Primary
- Broomfield Primary School Primary
- Chancellor Park Primary School, Chelmsford Primary
- Christchurch Church of England Primary School Primary
- Cold Norton Primary School Primary
- Collingwood Primary School Primary
- East Hanningfield Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Elmwood Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Great Leighs Primary School teach?
- Great Leighs Primary School teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Chelmsford.
- Who is the headteacher of Great Leighs Primary School?
- The headteacher of Great Leighs Primary School is Mr James Garlick, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Great Leighs Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Great Leighs 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 big is Great Leighs Primary School?
- Great Leighs Primary School has 197 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is Great Leighs Primary School full?
- Great Leighs Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 197 on roll (94%), 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 Great Leighs Primary School a faith school?
- No. Great Leighs Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Great Leighs Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Great Leighs Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Great Leighs Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 71% in 2022/23 and 52% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Great Leighs Primary School rank locally?
- Great Leighs Primary School ranked 308th of 388 primary schools in Essex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Great Leighs Primary School's absence rate?
- Great Leighs Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Great Leighs Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Great Leighs 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.