Castle Hill Junior School
Dryden Road, Ipswich, IP1 6QD
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ASSET EDUCATION
- Principal
- Mrs Jennifer Smith
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Asset Education
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 360
- Pupils on roll
- 288
- URN
- 141373
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01473741758
About this school
Castle Hill Junior School is a primary academy in Ipswich. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 288 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- 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 | 88 | 81 | 65 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 41% | 48% | 57% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 6% |
| Expected standard in reading | 60% | 65% | 71% |
| Expected standard in maths | 53% | 59% | 66% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 53% | 59% | 55% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 101.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.60 | - | - |
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 Castle Hill Junior 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 | 41% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 48% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 57% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 298 |
| 2023/24 | 289 |
| 2024/25 | 286 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Castle Hill Junior School compares
Castle Hill Junior School ranked 132nd of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57% | 5.9% | 37.4% | 288 | — |
| Castle Hill Infant School | — | 6.3% | 23.6% | 251 | 0.0 miles |
| Dale Hall Community Primary School | 67% | 4% | 9.4% | 412 | 0.4 miles |
| St Pancras Catholic Primary School | 72% | 5.4% | 24.4% | 153 | 0.4 miles |
| The Beeches Community Primary School | 50% | 7.7% | 41.3% | 393 | 0.5 miles |
| Whitehouse Community Primary School | 46% | 6.5% | 38.6% | 551 | 1.0 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)
- 37.41%
- English as an additional language
- 17.1%
- Overall absence
- 5.85%
- Persistent absence
- 14.63%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Castle Hill Infant School0.0 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Dale Hall Community Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
St Pancras Catholic Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
The Beeches Community Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Whitehouse Community Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Ipswich
Other schools in Ipswich
Castle Hill Junior School ranks 27th 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
- Cedarwood Primary School Primary
- Chelmondiston Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Castle Hill Junior School teach?
- Castle Hill Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Ipswich.
- Who is the principal of Castle Hill Junior School?
- The principal of Castle Hill Junior School is Mrs Jennifer Smith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Castle Hill Junior School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Castle Hill Junior 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 Castle Hill Junior School?
- Castle Hill Junior School has 288 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Castle Hill Junior School full?
- Castle Hill Junior School has capacity for 360 pupils and 288 on roll (80%), 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 Castle Hill Junior School a faith school?
- No. Castle Hill Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Castle Hill Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Castle Hill Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Castle Hill Junior School?
- Castle Hill Junior School is part of ASSET EDUCATION. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Castle Hill Junior School have?
- The schools register lists Castle Hill Junior School's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Castle Hill Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 41% in 2022/23 and 57% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Castle Hill Junior School rank locally?
- Castle Hill Junior School ranked 132nd of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Castle Hill Junior School's absence rate?
- Castle Hill Junior School's overall absence rate is 5.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Castle Hill Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Castle Hill Junior 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.