Barley Hill Primary School
Ludsden Grove, Thame, OX9 3DH
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Gemma Penny
- Constituency
- Henley and Thame
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 630
- Pupils on roll
- 482
- URN
- 123034
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01844213100
About this school
Barley Hill Primary School is a community primary school in Thame. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 482 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 15 January 2025, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 | 64 | 64 | 79 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 56% | 56% | 68% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 13% | 11% | 9% |
| Expected standard in reading | 83% | 78% | 80% |
| Expected standard in maths | 73% | 72% | 77% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 83% | 75% | 75% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.00 | - | - |
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 Barley Hill 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 | Oxfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 56% | 58.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 56% | 59.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 68% | 60.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 518 |
| 2023/24 | 512 |
| 2024/25 | 501 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Barley Hill Primary School compares
Barley Hill Primary School ranked 90th of 228 primary schools in Oxfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 43% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 68% | 5.8% | 17.2% | 482 | — |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Thame | 63% | 5% | 13.5% | 162 | 0.4 miles |
| John Hampden Primary School | 77% | 4.4% | 14.5% | 451 | 0.4 miles |
| Long Crendon School | 78% | 3.5% | 4.9% | 226 | 2.4 miles |
| Haddenham St Mary's Church of England School | — | 4.5% | 8.3% | 178 | 2.4 miles |
| Haddenham Community Junior School | 54% | 5.6% | 15.4% | 354 | 2.8 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)
- 17.17%
- English as an additional language
- 5.6%
- Overall absence
- 5.76%
- Persistent absence
- 9.76%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Thame0.4 miles
Primary · Thame
-
John Hampden Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Thame
-
Long Crendon School2.4 miles
Primary · Aylesbury
-
Haddenham St Mary's Church of England School2.4 miles
Primary · Aylesbury
-
Haddenham Community Junior School2.8 miles
Primary · Aylesbury
Other schools in Thame
- John Hampden Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Thame Primary
- Tetsworth Primary School Primary
- Lord Williams's School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Barley Hill Primary School teach?
- Barley Hill Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Thame.
- Who is the headteacher of Barley Hill Primary School?
- The headteacher of Barley Hill Primary School is Mrs Gemma Penny, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Barley Hill Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Barley Hill 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 Barley Hill Primary School?
- Barley Hill Primary School has 482 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Barley Hill Primary School full?
- Barley Hill Primary School has capacity for 630 pupils and 482 on roll (77%), 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 Barley Hill Primary School a faith school?
- No. Barley Hill Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Barley Hill Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Barley Hill Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Barley Hill Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 56% in 2022/23 and 68% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Barley Hill Primary School rank locally?
- Barley Hill Primary School ranked 90th of 228 primary schools in Oxfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 43% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Barley Hill Primary School's absence rate?
- Barley Hill Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Barley Hill Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Barley Hill 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.