Red Oak Primary School
Southwell Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0RZ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE ACTIVE LEARNING TRUST LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Mrs Tracy Hailstone-Ahern
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- The Active Learning Trust Limited
- Constituency
- Lowestoft
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 470
- Pupils on roll
- 420
- URN
- 140573
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01502573509
About this school
Red Oak Primary School is a primary academy in Lowestoft. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 420 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 18 May 2023, 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 | 58 | 57 | 58 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 90% | 84% | 88% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 22% | 14% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 93% | 86% | 95% |
| Expected standard in maths | 98% | 93% | 98% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 93% | 86% | 95% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 109.0 | 107.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 111.0 | 108.0 | 111.0 |
| Reading progress | +4.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +4.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +7.70 | - | - |
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 Red Oak 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 | 90% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 84% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 88% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 2.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 446 |
| 2023/24 | 431 |
| 2024/25 | 437 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Red Oak Primary School compares
Red Oak Primary School ranked 2nd of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 96% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 93% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 88% | 3.6% | 48.2% | 420 | — |
| Phoenix St Peter Academy | 58% | 7.6% | 50.5% | 109 | 0.2 miles |
| St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School | 61% | 4.3% | 15.4% | 155 | 0.4 miles |
| Roman Hill Primary School | 33% | 7.1% | 51.9% | 375 | 0.8 miles |
| Westwood Primary School | 68% | 5.2% | 46.4% | 184 | 0.9 miles |
| Dell Primary School | 47% | 4.3% | 38.2% | 290 | 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)
- 48.24%
- English as an additional language
- 9.8%
- Overall absence
- 3.56%
- Persistent absence
- 6.18%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Phoenix St Peter Academy0.2 miles
Primary · Lowestoft, Suffolk
-
St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
Roman Hill Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
Westwood Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
Dell Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
Other schools in Lowestoft
Red Oak Primary School ranks 1st of the 18 ranked primary schools in Lowestoft.
- Blundeston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Carlton Colville Primary School Primary
- Corton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Dell Primary School Primary
- Elm Tree Primary School Primary
- Grove Primary School Primary
- Gunton Primary Academy Primary
- Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Northfield St Nicholas Primary Academy Primary
- Oulton Broad Primary School Primary
- Pakefield Primary School Primary
- Poplars Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Red Oak Primary School teach?
- Red Oak Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Lowestoft.
- Who is the headteacher of Red Oak Primary School?
- The headteacher of Red Oak Primary School is Mrs Tracy Hailstone-Ahern, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Red Oak Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Red Oak 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 Red Oak Primary School?
- Red Oak Primary School has 420 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Red Oak Primary School full?
- Red Oak Primary School has capacity for 470 pupils and 420 on roll (89%), 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 Red Oak Primary School a faith school?
- No. Red Oak Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Red Oak Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Red Oak Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Red Oak Primary School?
- Red Oak 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 Red Oak Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 90% in 2022/23 and 88% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Red Oak Primary School rank locally?
- Red Oak Primary School ranked 2nd of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 96% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 93% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Red Oak Primary School's absence rate?
- Red Oak Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Red Oak Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Red Oak 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.