The Willows Primary School
Downing Close, Ipswich, IP2 9ER
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ORWELL MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kelly Head
- Sponsor
- Orwell Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Ipswich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 259
- URN
- 144216
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01473683178
About this school
The Willows Primary School is a primary academy in Ipswich. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 259 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- 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 | 44 | 46 | 54 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 20% | 28% | 35% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 4% | 6% |
| Expected standard in reading | 41% | 52% | 54% |
| Expected standard in maths | 39% | 43% | 50% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 48% | 46% | 43% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 100.0 | 101.0 | 100.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 97.0 | 98.0 | 100.0 |
| Reading progress | -3.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -5.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.60 | - | - |
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 The Willows 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 | 20% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 28% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 35% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 356 |
| 2023/24 | 357 |
| 2024/25 | 306 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Willows Primary School compares
The Willows Primary School ranked 210th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 9% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35% | 7% | 55.2% | 259 | — |
| St Mark's Catholic Primary School | — | — | — | 202 | 0.4 miles |
| Halifax Primary School | 72% | 4.4% | 24.8% | 409 | 0.5 miles |
| Gusford Community Primary School | 55% | 5.1% | 35.7% | 518 | 0.6 miles |
| The Oaks Primary School | 67% | 4% | 34.9% | 449 | 0.6 miles |
| Sprites Primary Academy | 71% | 4.9% | 30.1% | 406 | 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)
- 55.23%
- English as an additional language
- 22.9%
- Overall absence
- 7.03%
- Persistent absence
- 21.97%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Mark's Catholic Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Halifax Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Gusford Community Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
The Oaks Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Ipswich
-
Sprites Primary Academy0.9 miles
Primary · Ipswich
Other schools in Ipswich
The Willows Primary School ranks 51st 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 year groups does The Willows Primary School teach?
- The Willows Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Ipswich.
- Who is the headteacher of The Willows Primary School?
- The headteacher of The Willows Primary School is Mrs Kelly Head, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Willows Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Willows 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 The Willows Primary School?
- The Willows Primary School has 259 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is The Willows Primary School full?
- The Willows Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 259 on roll (62%), 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 The Willows Primary School a faith school?
- No. The Willows Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does The Willows Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records The Willows Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs The Willows Primary School?
- The Willows Primary School is part of ORWELL MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Willows Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 20% in 2022/23 and 35% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Willows Primary School rank locally?
- The Willows Primary School ranked 210th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 9% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Willows Primary School's absence rate?
- The Willows Primary School's overall absence rate is 7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Willows Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Willows 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 10 July 2026.