Great Dunmow Primary School
Walnut Walk, Woodlands Park Drive, Great Dunmow, CM6 1ZR
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Mr Kevin Watts
- Constituency
- North West Essex
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 421
- URN
- 115298
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01371873184
About this school
Great Dunmow Primary School is a foundation primary school in Great Dunmow. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 421 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Great Dunmow 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
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- 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 | 60 | 61 | 61 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 78% | 80% | 87% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 13% | 16% | 13% |
| Expected standard in reading | 83% | 85% | 87% |
| Expected standard in maths | 92% | 92% | 90% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 85% | 93% | 89% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 108.0 | 109.0 | 108.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +3.20 | - | - |
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 Dunmow 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 | 78% | 58.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 80% | 59.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 87% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 421 |
| 2023/24 | 423 |
| 2024/25 | 421 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Great Dunmow Primary School compares
Great Dunmow Primary School ranked 17th of 388 primary schools in Essex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 95% 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 | 87% | 4.1% | 8.6% | 421 | — |
| Dunmow St Mary's Primary School | 58% | 5.2% | 18.4% | 459 | 0.3 miles |
| Great Easton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 41% | 7.2% | 13.3% | 147 | 2.4 miles |
| Takeley Primary School | 74% | 4.4% | 15.3% | 350 | 2.9 miles |
| Stebbing Primary School | 62% | 5.5% | 15.2% | 200 | 3.0 miles |
| The Flitch Green Academy | 38% | 6% | 11.7% | 272 | 3.0 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)
- 8.55%
- English as an additional language
- 4.5%
- Overall absence
- 4.12%
- Persistent absence
- 7.1%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Dunmow St Mary's Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Dunmow
-
Great Easton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School2.4 miles
Primary · Dunmow
-
Takeley Primary School2.9 miles
Primary · Dunmow
-
Stebbing Primary School3.0 miles
Primary · Dunmow
-
The Flitch Green Academy3.0 miles
Primary · Dunmow
Other schools in Great Dunmow
- Helena Romanes School All-through
Common questions
- What ages does Great Dunmow Primary School teach?
- Great Dunmow Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Great Dunmow.
- Who is the headteacher of Great Dunmow Primary School?
- The headteacher of Great Dunmow Primary School is Mr Kevin Watts, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Great Dunmow Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Great Dunmow 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 Great Dunmow Primary School?
- Great Dunmow Primary School has 421 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Great Dunmow Primary School full?
- Great Dunmow Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 421 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 Great Dunmow Primary School a faith school?
- No. Great Dunmow Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Great Dunmow Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Great Dunmow Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Great Dunmow Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 78% in 2022/23 and 87% 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 Dunmow Primary School compare with other schools in Essex?
- Great Dunmow Primary School ranked 17th of 388 primary schools in Essex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 95% 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 Great Dunmow Primary School's absence rate?
- Great Dunmow 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 Great Dunmow Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Great Dunmow 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.