St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School
Maple Avenue, Braintree, CM7 2NS
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Mr Christopher Speller
- Diocese
- Diocese of Chelmsford
- Constituency
- Braintree
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 387
- URN
- 115157
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01376344866
About this school
St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school in Braintree. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 387 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 59 | 58 | 58 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 66% | 61% | 52% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 15% | 2% | 9% |
| Expected standard in reading | 76% | 86% | 67% |
| Expected standard in maths | 76% | 86% | 66% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 68% | 76% | 69% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 106.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 106.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.90 | - | - |
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 St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided 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 | 66% | 58.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 61% | 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 | 4.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 416 |
| 2023/24 | 416 |
| 2024/25 | 405 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School compares
St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School ranked 306th 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 81% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52% | 4.1% | 22% | 387 | — |
| St Francis Catholic Primary School, Braintree | 83% | 3.3% | 9.1% | 203 | 0.5 miles |
| John Bunyan Primary School and Nursery | 55% | 7.5% | 44.5% | 501 | 0.6 miles |
| Notley Green Primary School | 66% | 3.7% | 11.7% | 401 | 1.0 miles |
| John Ray Junior School | 62% | 5.5% | 27.8% | 439 | 1.0 miles |
| John Ray Infant School | — | 5.3% | 23.8% | 319 | 1.0 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 21.98%
- English as an additional language
- 12.1%
- Overall absence
- 4.12%
- Persistent absence
- 9.95%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Francis Catholic Primary School, Braintree0.5 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
John Bunyan Primary School and Nursery0.6 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
Notley Green Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
John Ray Junior School1.0 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
John Ray Infant School1.0 miles
Primary · Braintree
Other schools in Braintree
St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School ranks 13th of the 16 ranked primary schools in Braintree.
- Beckers Green Primary School Primary
- Bocking Primary School Primary
- Cressing Primary School Primary
- Finchingfield St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Great Bardfield Primary School Primary
- Great Bradfords Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Great Bradfords Junior School Primary
- John Bunyan Primary School and Nursery Primary
- John Ray Infant School Primary
- John Ray Junior School Primary
- Lyons Hall School Primary
- Notley Green Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School teach?
- St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Braintree.
- Who is the headteacher of St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is Mr Christopher Speller, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided 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 St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School?
- St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School has 387 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School full?
- St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 387 on roll (92%), 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 St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Chelmsford.
- Does St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 66% 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 St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School compare with other schools in Essex?
- St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School ranked 306th 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 81% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School's absence rate?
- St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided 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.