St Helen's Primary School
Woodbridge Road, Ipswich, IP4 2LT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ASSET EDUCATION
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kate Hodgetts
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Asset Education
- Constituency
- Ipswich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 472
- Pupils on roll
- 439
- URN
- 141819
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01473251333
About this school
St Helen's Primary School is a primary academy in Ipswich. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 439 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Helen's Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out 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 4 July 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 | 55 | 60 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 82% | 67% | 53% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 18% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 89% | 77% | 66% |
| Expected standard in maths | 89% | 83% | 68% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 82% | 72% | 73% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 104.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 106.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | +3.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +4.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +4.80 | - | - |
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 St Helen's 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 | 82% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 67% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 53% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 447 |
| 2023/24 | 453 |
| 2024/25 | 451 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Helen's Primary School compares
St Helen's Primary School ranked 158th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 43% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53% | 5.7% | 29.7% | 439 | — |
| St Margaret's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Ipswich | 63% | 6.1% | 23.9% | 413 | 0.3 miles |
| Clifford Road Primary School & Nursery | 57% | 5.8% | 19.3% | 404 | 0.5 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ipswich | 75% | 4% | 11.8% | 210 | 0.5 miles |
| St Matthew's Church of England Primary School, Ipswich | 47% | 9.2% | 36.1% | 407 | 0.8 miles |
| Sidegate Primary School | 51% | 4.5% | 16.7% | 649 | 0.9 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)
- 29.74%
- English as an additional language
- 54.8%
- Overall absence
- 5.74%
- Persistent absence
- 15.09%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Margaret's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Ipswich0.3 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Clifford Road Primary School & Nursery0.5 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ipswich0.5 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
St Matthew's Church of England Primary School, Ipswich0.8 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Sidegate Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Ipswich
Other schools in Ipswich
St Helen's Primary School ranks 36th 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 ages does St Helen's Primary School teach?
- St Helen's Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Ipswich.
- Who is the headteacher of St Helen's Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Helen's Primary School is Mrs Kate Hodgetts, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Helen's Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Helen's 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 many pupils are at St Helen's Primary School?
- St Helen's Primary School has 439 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St Helen's Primary School full?
- St Helen's Primary School has capacity for 472 pupils and 439 on roll (93%), 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 St Helen's Primary School a faith school?
- No. St Helen's Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Is St Helen's Primary School a selective school?
- No. St Helen's Primary School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Does St Helen's Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Helen's Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Is St Helen's Primary School part of an academy trust?
- St Helen's Primary 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.
- How have St Helen's Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 82% in 2022/23 and 53% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Helen's Primary School compare with other schools in Suffolk?
- St Helen's Primary School ranked 158th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 43% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Helen's Primary School's absence rate?
- St Helen's Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Helen's Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Helen's 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 2 July 2026.