Forest Academy
Bury Road, Brandon, IP27 0FP
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- FOREST ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Mrs April Grimes
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- West Suffolk
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 389
- URN
- 136316
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01842810309
About this school
Forest Academy is a primary academy in Brandon. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 389 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected 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 | 55 | 59 | 54 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 60% | 54% | 54% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 2% | 3% | 4% |
| Expected standard in reading | 73% | 68% | 65% |
| Expected standard in maths | 75% | 59% | 70% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 73% | 58% | 59% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.50 | - | - |
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 Forest Academy 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 | 60% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 54% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 54% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 436 |
| 2023/24 | 424 |
| 2024/25 | 412 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Forest Academy compares
Forest Academy ranked 153rd of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 28% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 35% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54% | 6.2% | 26.3% | 389 | — |
| Glade Academy | 58% | 5.8% | 26.5% | 180 | 0.3 miles |
| Weeting Church of England Primary School | 47% | 6.7% | 31.2% | 121 | 1.4 miles |
| Iceni Primary Academy | 80% | 3.6% | 10.5% | 103 | 3.3 miles |
| Mundford Church of England Primary Academy | 60% | 4.9% | 12.1% | 239 | 4.6 miles |
| Lakenheath Community Primary School | 45% | 5.8% | 18.5% | 282 | 4.6 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 March 2026
- 11 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 26.25%
- English as an additional language
- 14.3%
- Overall absence
- 6.2%
- Persistent absence
- 19.05%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Glade Academy0.3 miles
Primary · Brandon
-
Weeting Church of England Primary School1.4 miles
Primary · Brandon
-
Iceni Primary Academy3.3 miles
Primary · Hockwold Cum Wilton
- 4.6 miles
-
Lakenheath Community Primary School4.6 miles
Primary · Brandon
Other schools in Brandon
- Glade Academy Primary
- Lakenheath Community Primary School Primary
- Weeting Church of England Primary School Primary
- Breckland School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Forest Academy teach?
- Forest Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Brandon.
- Who is the headteacher of Forest Academy?
- The headteacher of Forest Academy is Mrs April Grimes, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Forest Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Forest Academy, 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 Forest Academy?
- Forest Academy has 389 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Forest Academy full?
- Forest Academy has capacity for 420 pupils and 389 on roll (93%), 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 Forest Academy a faith school?
- No. Forest Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Forest Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Forest Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Forest Academy?
- Forest Academy is part of FOREST ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Forest Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 60% in 2022/23 and 54% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Forest Academy rank locally?
- Forest Academy ranked 153rd of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 28% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 35% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Forest Academy's absence rate?
- Forest Academy's overall absence rate is 6.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Forest Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Forest Academy'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.