Drake Primary School
Fairfields, Croxton Road, Thetford, IP24 1JW
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Louise Clements McLeod
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- South West Norfolk
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 413
- URN
- 120995
- Local authority
- Norfolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01842762055
About this school
Drake Primary School is a community primary school in Thetford. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 413 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
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 | 60 | 58 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 42% | 53% | 40% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 5% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 67% | 67% | 72% |
| Expected standard in maths | 47% | 60% | 52% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 60% | 68% | 47% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 104.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 98.0 | 102.0 | 100.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.40 | - | - |
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 Drake 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 | Norfolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42% | 49.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 53% | 49.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 40% | 52.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 421 |
| 2023/24 | 417 |
| 2024/25 | 411 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Drake Primary School compares
Drake Primary School ranked 228th of 266 primary schools in Norfolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 11% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40% | 5.6% | 12.2% | 413 | — |
| Raleigh Infant Academy | — | 5.3% | 9.5% | 143 | 0.2 miles |
| Admirals Academy | 57% | 5.2% | 28.6% | 201 | 0.2 miles |
| Norwich Road Academy | 58% | 6.1% | 30.7% | 317 | 0.5 miles |
| The Bishop's Church of England Primary Academy | 27% | 7.8% | 61.7% | 330 | 0.9 miles |
| Redcastle Family School | 70% | 5.3% | 40.5% | 277 | 1.1 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
-
Graded inspection report3 March 2026
- 16 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 12.17%
- English as an additional language
- 25.8%
- Overall absence
- 5.55%
- Persistent absence
- 11.78%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Raleigh Infant Academy0.2 miles
Primary · Thetford
-
Admirals Academy0.2 miles
Primary · Thetford
-
Norwich Road Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Thetford
-
The Bishop's Church of England Primary Academy0.9 miles
Primary · Thetford
-
Redcastle Family School1.1 miles
Primary · Thetford
Other schools in Thetford
Drake Primary School ranks 14th of the 17 ranked primary schools in Thetford.
- Admirals Academy Primary
- Ashill Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Duchy of Lancaster Methwold CofE Primary School Primary
- Edmund de Moundeford VC Primary School, Feltwell Primary
- Elveden Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Great Hockham Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Norwich Road Academy Primary
- Parker's Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Queensway Infant Academy Primary
- Queensway Junior Academy Primary
- Raleigh Infant Academy Primary
- Redcastle Family School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Drake Primary School teach?
- Drake Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Thetford.
- Who is the headteacher of Drake Primary School?
- The headteacher of Drake Primary School is Miss Louise Clements McLeod, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Drake Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Drake 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 Drake Primary School?
- Drake Primary School has 413 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Drake Primary School full?
- Drake Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 413 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 Drake Primary School a faith school?
- No. Drake Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Drake Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Drake Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- What SEN provision does Drake Primary School have?
- The schools register lists Drake Primary School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Drake Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 42% in 2022/23 and 40% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Drake Primary School rank locally?
- Drake Primary School ranked 228th of 266 primary schools in Norfolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 11% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Drake Primary School's absence rate?
- Drake Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Drake Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Drake 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.