St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich
Bolton Lane, Ipswich, IP4 2BT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Mr Darren Gates
- Diocese
- Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
- Constituency
- Ipswich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 413
- URN
- 124782
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01473251613
About this school
St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school in Ipswich. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 413 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich, 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 16 May 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. 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 | 57 | 58 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 75% | 64% | 63% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 14% | 12% | 8% |
| Expected standard in reading | 84% | 71% | 68% |
| Expected standard in maths | 79% | 76% | 72% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 79% | 76% | 63% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 109.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 104.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.60 | - | - |
| 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 St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Suffolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 75% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 64% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 63% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 420 |
| 2023/24 | 420 |
| 2024/25 | 414 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich compares
St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich ranked 101st of 223 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 36% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 63% | 6.1% | 23.9% | 413 | — |
| St Helen's Primary School | 53% | 5.7% | 29.7% | 439 | 0.3 miles |
| St Matthew's Church of England Primary School, Ipswich | 47% | 9.2% | 36.1% | 407 | 0.6 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ipswich | 75% | 4% | 11.8% | 210 | 0.7 miles |
| Clifford Community Primary School & Nursery | 57% | 5.8% | 19.3% | 404 | 0.7 miles |
| Sidegate Primary School | 51% | 4.5% | 16.7% | 649 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 23.91%
- English as an additional language
- 37.2%
- Overall absence
- 6.14%
- Persistent absence
- 16.94%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Helen's Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
St Matthew's Church of England Primary School, Ipswich0.6 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ipswich0.7 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Clifford Community Primary School & Nursery0.7 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Sidegate Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Ipswich
Other schools in Ipswich
St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich ranks 19th of the 55 ranked primary schools in Ipswich.
- Bentley Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Bildeston Primary School Primary
- Birchwood Primary School Primary
- Bosmere Community Primary School Primary
- Bramford Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Britannia Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Broke Hall Community Primary School Primary
- Bucklesham Primary School Primary
- Capel St Mary Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Castle Hill Infant School Primary
- Castle Hill Junior School Primary
- Cedarwood Primary School Primary
Recorded changes at this school
Previous headteacher: Revd Jo Gunn (until September 2026).
- Headteacher changed from Revd Jo Gunn to Mr Darren Gates recorded 24 Sep 2026
- School name changed from St Margaret's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Ipswich to St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich recorded 24 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What ages does St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich teach?
- St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Ipswich.
- Who is the headteacher of St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich?
- The headteacher of St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich is Mr Darren Gates, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich, 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 Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich?
- St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich has 413 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich full?
- St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich 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 St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich a faith school?
- Yes. St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.
- Does St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich as having no nursery classes.
- How have St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 75% in 2022/23 and 63% 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 Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich compare with other schools in Suffolk?
- St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich ranked 101st of 223 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 36% 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 Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich's absence rate?
- St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich's overall absence rate is 6.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Margaret's CEVAP School, Ipswich'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 24 September 2026.