John Ray Junior School
Notley Road, Braintree, CM7 1HL
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE COMPASS PARTNERSHIP OF SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Miss Karen Harrison
- Constituency
- Braintree
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 432
- Pupils on roll
- 439
- URN
- 143538
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01376324107
About this school
John Ray Junior School is a primary academy in Braintree. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 439 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
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
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 104 | 95 | 108 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 55% | 56% | 62% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 11% | 5% | 6% |
| Expected standard in reading | 63% | 66% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 63% | 64% | 72% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 72% | 61% | 72% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 102.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 102.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.40 | - | - |
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 John Ray 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 | Essex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55% | 58.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 56% | 59.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 62% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 408 |
| 2023/24 | 440 |
| 2024/25 | 436 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How John Ray Junior School compares
John Ray Junior School ranked 232nd of 388 primary schools in Essex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 45% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 62% | 5.5% | 27.8% | 439 | — |
| John Ray Infant School | — | 5.3% | 23.8% | 319 | 0.0 miles |
| St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 52% | 4.1% | 22% | 387 | 1.0 miles |
| Notley Green Primary School | 66% | 3.7% | 11.7% | 401 | 1.0 miles |
| St Francis Catholic Primary School, Braintree | 83% | 3.3% | 9.1% | 203 | 1.1 miles |
| White Court School | 64% | 4.9% | 15.9% | 550 | 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
-
Ungraded inspection report5 March 2025
- 10 March 2020
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 27.75%
- English as an additional language
- 18.6%
- Overall absence
- 5.45%
- Persistent absence
- 14.13%
Location
Nearby schools
-
John Ray Infant School0.0 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
Notley Green Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
St Francis Catholic Primary School, Braintree1.1 miles
Primary · Braintree
-
White Court School1.2 miles
Primary · Braintree
Other schools in Braintree
John Ray Junior School ranks 9th of the 16 ranked primary schools in Braintree.
- Beckers Green Primary School Primary
- Bocking Primary School Primary
- Cressing Primary School Primary
- Finchingfield St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Great Bardfield Primary School Primary
- Great Bradfords Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Great Bradfords Junior School Primary
- John Bunyan Primary School and Nursery Primary
- John Ray Infant School Primary
- Lyons Hall School Primary
- Notley Green Primary School Primary
- Rayne Primary and Nursery School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does John Ray Junior School teach?
- John Ray Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Braintree.
- Who is the headteacher of John Ray Junior School?
- The headteacher of John Ray Junior School is Miss Karen Harrison, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was John Ray Junior School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected John Ray 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 John Ray Junior School?
- John Ray Junior School has 439 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is John Ray Junior School full?
- John Ray Junior School has capacity for 432 pupils and 439 on roll (102%), so it is at or above 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 John Ray Junior School a faith school?
- No. John Ray Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does John Ray Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records John Ray Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs John Ray Junior School?
- John Ray Junior School is part of THE COMPASS PARTNERSHIP OF SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have John Ray Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 55% in 2022/23 and 62% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does John Ray Junior School rank locally?
- John Ray Junior School ranked 232nd of 388 primary schools in Essex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 45% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is John Ray Junior School's absence rate?
- John Ray Junior School's overall absence rate is 5.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are John Ray Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, John Ray 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 10 July 2026.