Gusford Community Primary School
Sheldrake Drive, Ipswich, IP2 9LQ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE ACTIVE LEARNING TRUST LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Mr Stephen Tapley
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- The Active Learning Trust Limited
- Constituency
- Ipswich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 630
- Pupils on roll
- 518
- URN
- 139803
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01473682148
About this school
Gusford Community Primary School is a primary academy in Ipswich. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 518 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 86 | 87 | 77 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 48% | 55% | 55% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 1% | 1% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 58% | 66% | 65% |
| Expected standard in maths | 60% | 71% | 65% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 71% | 72% | 68% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 101.0 | 102.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 103.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.20 | - | - |
| 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 Gusford Community 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 | Suffolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 55% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 55% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 576 |
| 2023/24 | 549 |
| 2024/25 | 531 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Gusford Community Primary School compares
Gusford Community Primary School ranked 148th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 30% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 55% | 5.1% | 35.7% | 518 | — |
| Sprites Primary Academy | 71% | 4.9% | 30.1% | 406 | 0.5 miles |
| The Willows Primary School | 35% | 7% | 55.2% | 259 | 0.6 miles |
| The Oaks Primary School | 67% | 4% | 34.9% | 449 | 0.7 miles |
| St Mark's Catholic Primary School | — | — | — | 202 | 0.9 miles |
| Halifax Primary School | 72% | 4.4% | 24.8% | 409 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 35.7%
- English as an additional language
- 7.5%
- Overall absence
- 5.11%
- Persistent absence
- 15%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sprites Primary Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
The Willows Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
The Oaks Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
St Mark's Catholic Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Halifax Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Ipswich
Other schools in Ipswich
Gusford Community Primary School ranks 33rd 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
Common questions
- What year groups does Gusford Community Primary School teach?
- Gusford Community Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Ipswich.
- Who is the headteacher of Gusford Community Primary School?
- The headteacher of Gusford Community Primary School is Mr Stephen Tapley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Gusford Community Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Gusford Community 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 Gusford Community Primary School?
- Gusford Community Primary School has 518 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Gusford Community Primary School full?
- Gusford Community Primary School has capacity for 630 pupils and 518 on roll (82%), 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 Gusford Community Primary School a faith school?
- No. Gusford Community Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Gusford Community Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Gusford Community Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Gusford Community Primary School?
- Gusford Community Primary School is part of THE ACTIVE LEARNING TRUST LIMITED. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Gusford Community Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 48% in 2022/23 and 55% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Gusford Community Primary School rank locally?
- Gusford Community Primary School ranked 148th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 30% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Gusford Community Primary School's absence rate?
- Gusford Community Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Gusford Community Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Gusford Community 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.