Pakefield Primary School
London Road, Pakefield, Lowestoft, NR33 7AQ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE ACTIVE LEARNING TRUST LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Mr Ryan Stevens
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- The Active Learning Trust Limited
- Constituency
- Lowestoft
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 274
- URN
- 141640
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01502574032
About this school
Pakefield Primary School is a primary academy in Lowestoft. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 274 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
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- 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 | 56 | 57 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 61% | 59% | 63% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 2% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 82% | 75% | 75% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 68% | 78% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 70% | 65% | 73% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 103.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.60 | - | - |
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 Pakefield 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 | 61% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 59% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 63% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 363 |
| 2023/24 | 342 |
| 2024/25 | 311 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Pakefield Primary School compares
Pakefield Primary School ranked 103rd of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 76% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 63% | 4.4% | 19.6% | 274 | — |
| Westwood Primary School | 68% | 5.2% | 46.4% | 184 | 0.8 miles |
| St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School | 61% | 4.3% | 15.4% | 155 | 0.9 miles |
| Phoenix St Peter Academy | 58% | 7.6% | 50.5% | 109 | 1.1 miles |
| Elm Tree Primary School | 81% | 5.1% | 29.9% | 266 | 1.1 miles |
| Red Oak Primary School | 88% | 3.6% | 48.2% | 420 | 1.2 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 February 2026
- 21 September 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 19.59%
- English as an additional language
- 2.9%
- Overall absence
- 4.35%
- Persistent absence
- 7.33%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Westwood Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
Phoenix St Peter Academy1.1 miles
Primary · Lowestoft, Suffolk
-
Elm Tree Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
-
Red Oak Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Lowestoft
Other schools in Lowestoft
Pakefield Primary School ranks 13th 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
- Poplars Community Primary School Primary
- Red Oak Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Pakefield Primary School teach?
- Pakefield Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Lowestoft.
- Who is the headteacher of Pakefield Primary School?
- The headteacher of Pakefield Primary School is Mr Ryan Stevens, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Pakefield Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Pakefield 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 Pakefield Primary School?
- Pakefield Primary School has 274 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Pakefield Primary School full?
- Pakefield Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 274 on roll (65%), 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 Pakefield Primary School a faith school?
- No. Pakefield Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Pakefield Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Pakefield Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Pakefield Primary School?
- Pakefield 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 Pakefield Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 61% in 2022/23 and 63% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Pakefield Primary School rank locally?
- Pakefield Primary School ranked 103rd of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 76% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Pakefield Primary School's absence rate?
- Pakefield Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Pakefield Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Pakefield 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.