The Willows Primary School
Pyle Hill, Newbury, RG14 7SJ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Executive Headteacher
- Miss Jo MacArthur
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Newbury
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 450
- Pupils on roll
- 337
- URN
- 135213
- Local authority
- West Berkshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 0163542155
About this school
The Willows Primary School is a community primary school in Newbury. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 337 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong 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 | 59 | 59 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 63% | 63% | 66% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 15% | 15% | 12% |
| Expected standard in reading | 73% | 64% | 81% |
| Expected standard in maths | 83% | 78% | 85% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 81% | 81% | 86% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 106.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.60 | - | - |
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 The Willows 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 | West Berkshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 63% | 54% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 63% | 54.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 66% | 55.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 403 |
| 2023/24 | 393 |
| 2024/25 | 383 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Willows Primary School compares
The Willows Primary School ranked 15th of 52 primary schools in West Berkshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 55% 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 | 66% | 5.7% | 27.2% | 337 | — |
| St John the Evangelist CofE Infant and Nursery School | — | 6% | 13.5% | 188 | 0.6 miles |
| Highwood Copse Primary School | — | 3.9% | 9.8% | 149 | 0.7 miles |
| St Nicolas C.E. Junior School | 54% | 4% | 16.6% | 244 | 0.8 miles |
| John Rankin Junior School | — | — | — | 311 | 1.2 miles |
| John Rankin Infant and Nursery School | — | — | — | 240 | 1.2 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 report10 February 2026
- 7 December 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 27.22%
- English as an additional language
- 20.4%
- Overall absence
- 5.74%
- Persistent absence
- 14.24%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St John the Evangelist CofE Infant and Nursery School0.6 miles
Primary · Newbury
-
Highwood Copse Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Newbury
-
St Nicolas C.E. Junior School0.8 miles
Primary · Newbury
-
John Rankin Junior School1.2 miles
Primary · Newbury
-
John Rankin Infant and Nursery School1.2 miles
Primary · Newbury
Other schools in Newbury
The Willows Primary School ranks 8th of the 20 ranked primary schools in Newbury.
- Beedon C.E. (Controlled) Primary School Primary
- Brightwalton C.E. Aided Primary School Primary
- Burghclere Primary School Primary
- Chaddleworth St Andrew's C.E. Primary School Primary
- Chieveley Primary School Primary
- Compton C.E. Primary School Primary
- Ecchinswell and Sydmonton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Enborne C.E. Primary School Primary
- Falkland Primary School Primary
- Fir Tree Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Highwood Copse Primary School Primary
- John Rankin Infant and Nursery School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Willows Primary School teach?
- The Willows Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Newbury.
- Who is the executive headteacher of The Willows Primary School?
- The executive headteacher of The Willows Primary School is Miss Jo MacArthur, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Willows Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Willows 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 The Willows Primary School?
- The Willows Primary School has 337 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is The Willows Primary School full?
- The Willows Primary School has capacity for 450 pupils and 337 on roll (75%), 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 The Willows Primary School a faith school?
- No. The Willows Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does The Willows Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records The Willows Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have The Willows Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 63% in 2022/23 and 66% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Willows Primary School rank locally?
- The Willows Primary School ranked 15th of 52 primary schools in West Berkshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 55% 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 The Willows Primary School's absence rate?
- The Willows Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Willows Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Willows 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 1 July 2026.