Watchfield Primary School
North Street, Watchfield, SN6 8SD
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CAMBRIAN LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Nick Hatcliffe
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Faringdon Academy of Schools
- Constituency
- Witney
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 315
- URN
- 140301
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01793782623
About this school
Watchfield Primary School is a primary academy in Watchfield. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 315 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Needs attention
- 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 | 37 | 43 | 43 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 54% | 26% | 56% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 2% | 5% |
| Expected standard in reading | 65% | 58% | 81% |
| Expected standard in maths | 68% | 65% | 70% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 73% | 65% | 67% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 102.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 102.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.70 | - | - |
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 Watchfield 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 | 54% | 58.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 26% | 59.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 56% | 60.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 371 |
| 2023/24 | 361 |
| 2024/25 | 346 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Watchfield Primary School compares
Watchfield Primary School ranked 157th of 228 primary schools in Oxfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 31% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 56% | 5.5% | 23.4% | 315 | — |
| Shrivenham Church of England School | 48% | 5.9% | 20.9% | 245 | 0.8 miles |
| Longcot and Fernham Church of England Primary School | 72% | 4.6% | 5.6% | 133 | 1.7 miles |
| Eastrop Infant School | — | 4.6% | 10.8% | 135 | 3.0 miles |
| Southfield Junior School | 70% | 3.8% | 13% | 160 | 3.1 miles |
| Ashbury With Compton Beauchamp Church of England Primary School | 47% | 5.5% | 20.9% | 48 | 3.3 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 23.4%
- English as an additional language
- 32.4%
- Overall absence
- 5.54%
- Persistent absence
- 16.33%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Shrivenham Church of England School0.8 miles
Primary · Swindon
-
Longcot and Fernham Church of England Primary School1.7 miles
Primary · Faringdon
-
Eastrop Infant School3.0 miles
Primary · Swindon
-
Southfield Junior School3.1 miles
Primary · Swindon
- 3.3 miles
Common questions
- What year groups does Watchfield Primary School teach?
- Watchfield Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Watchfield.
- Who is the headteacher of Watchfield Primary School?
- The headteacher of Watchfield Primary School is Mr Nick Hatcliffe, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Watchfield Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Watchfield 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 Watchfield Primary School?
- Watchfield Primary School has 315 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Watchfield Primary School full?
- Watchfield Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 315 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 Watchfield Primary School a faith school?
- No. Watchfield Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Watchfield Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Watchfield Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Watchfield Primary School?
- Watchfield Primary School is part of CAMBRIAN LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Watchfield Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 54% in 2022/23 and 56% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Watchfield Primary School rank locally?
- Watchfield Primary School ranked 157th of 228 primary schools in Oxfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 31% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Watchfield Primary School's absence rate?
- Watchfield Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Watchfield Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Watchfield 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.