Gurnard Primary School
Baring Road, Cowes, PO31 8DS
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Clemma Yardley
- Constituency
- Isle of Wight West
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 522
- URN
- 118160
- Local authority
- Isle of Wight
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01983295713
About this school
Gurnard Primary School is a community primary school in Cowes. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 522 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Gurnard 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
- Outstanding
- 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 | 59 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 69% | 71% | 62% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 0% | 3% |
| Expected standard in reading | 81% | 85% | 78% |
| Expected standard in maths | 76% | 81% | 72% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 75% | 64% | 58% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 106.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.10 | - | - |
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 Gurnard 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 | Isle of Wight average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 69% | 51.5% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 71% | 50.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 62% | 49.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 406 |
| 2023/24 | 420 |
| 2024/25 | 414 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Gurnard Primary School compares
Gurnard Primary School ranked 10th of 36 primary schools in Isle of Wight for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 45% 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 | 62% | 5% | 7.7% | 522 | — |
| Lanesend Primary School | 37% | 5.5% | 47.1% | 346 | 0.8 miles |
| Northwood Primary School | 50% | 5.5% | 15.4% | 178 | 1.7 miles |
| Holy Cross Catholic Primary School | 35% | 4.3% | 16.2% | 148 | 1.7 miles |
| Queensgate Foundation Primary | 68% | 5.6% | 34.5% | 353 | 2.1 miles |
| Hunnyhill Ormiston Academy | — | — | — | 406 | 3.7 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 7.73%
- English as an additional language
- 5.1%
- Overall absence
- 5%
- Persistent absence
- 11.38%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lanesend Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Cowes
-
Northwood Primary School1.7 miles
Primary · Cowes
-
Holy Cross Catholic Primary School1.7 miles
Primary · East Cowes
-
Queensgate Foundation Primary2.1 miles
Primary · East Cowes
-
Hunnyhill Ormiston Academy3.7 miles
Primary · Newport
Other schools in Cowes
- Lanesend Primary School Primary
- Northwood Primary School Primary
- Cowes Enterprise College, An Ormiston Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Gurnard Primary School teach?
- Gurnard Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Cowes.
- Who is the headteacher of Gurnard Primary School?
- The headteacher of Gurnard Primary School is Mrs Clemma Yardley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Gurnard Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Gurnard 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 Gurnard Primary School?
- Gurnard Primary School has 522 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Gurnard Primary School full?
- Gurnard Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 522 on roll (124%), 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 Gurnard Primary School a faith school?
- No. Gurnard Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Gurnard Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Gurnard Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Gurnard Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 69% in 2022/23 and 62% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Gurnard Primary School compare with other schools in Isle of Wight?
- Gurnard Primary School ranked 10th of 36 primary schools in Isle of Wight for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 45% 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 Gurnard Primary School's absence rate?
- Gurnard Primary School's overall absence rate is 5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Gurnard Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Gurnard 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.