The Downs Primary School and Nursery
The Hides, Harlow, CM20 3RB
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE PASSMORES CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY
- Headteacher
- Headteacher Rob Calderwood
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- The Passmores Co-operative Learning Community
- Constituency
- Harlow
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 362
- URN
- 146157
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01279445538
About this school
The Downs Primary School and Nursery is a primary academy in Harlow. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 362 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- 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 | 50 | 56 | 56 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 46% | 45% | 52% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 4% | 0% | 4% |
| Expected standard in reading | 76% | 70% | 71% |
| Expected standard in maths | 58% | 61% | 59% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 58% | 68% | 68% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 102.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 101.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.40 | - | - |
| 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 The Downs Primary School and Nursery 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 | 46% | 58.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 45% | 59.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 52% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 421 |
| 2023/24 | 437 |
| 2024/25 | 402 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Downs Primary School and Nursery compares
The Downs Primary School and Nursery ranked 310th of 388 primary schools in Essex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% 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 | 52% | 5.8% | 34.9% | 362 | — |
| Freshwaters Primary Academy | 62% | 6.5% | 40.1% | 413 | 0.3 miles |
| St Alban's Catholic Academy | 57% | 4.7% | 16.8% | 227 | 0.6 miles |
| Pemberley Academy | 67% | 5.8% | 26.4% | 207 | 0.7 miles |
| William Martin Church of England Junior School | 60% | 5.6% | 35.5% | 234 | 0.7 miles |
| Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery | 85% | 5.7% | 34.9% | 454 | 0.7 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)
- 34.85%
- English as an additional language
- 43.5%
- Overall absence
- 5.77%
- Persistent absence
- 15.04%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Freshwaters Primary Academy0.3 miles
Primary · Harlow
-
St Alban's Catholic Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Harlow
-
Pemberley Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Harlow
-
William Martin Church of England Junior School0.7 miles
Primary · Harlow
-
Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery0.7 miles
Primary · Harlow
Other schools in Harlow
The Downs Primary School and Nursery ranks 27th of the 30 ranked primary schools in Harlow.
- Abbotsweld Primary Academy Primary
- Church Langley Community Primary School Primary
- Churchgate Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Harlow Primary
- Cooks Spinney Primary Academy and Nursery Primary
- Freshwaters Primary Academy Primary
- Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Harlowbury Primary School Primary
- Henry Moore Primary School Primary
- Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Harlow Primary
- Jerounds Primary Academy Primary
- Katherines Primary Academy and Nursery Primary
- Kingsmoor Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Downs Primary School and Nursery teach?
- The Downs Primary School and Nursery teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Harlow.
- Who is the headteacher of The Downs Primary School and Nursery?
- The headteacher of The Downs Primary School and Nursery is Headteacher Rob Calderwood, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Downs Primary School and Nursery last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Downs Primary School and Nursery, 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 Downs Primary School and Nursery?
- The Downs Primary School and Nursery has 362 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is The Downs Primary School and Nursery full?
- The Downs Primary School and Nursery has capacity for 420 pupils and 362 on roll (86%), 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 Downs Primary School and Nursery a faith school?
- No. The Downs Primary School and Nursery has no designated religious character.
- Does The Downs Primary School and Nursery have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records The Downs Primary School and Nursery as having nursery classes.
- Who runs The Downs Primary School and Nursery?
- The Downs Primary School and Nursery is part of THE PASSMORES CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Downs Primary School and Nursery's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 46% in 2022/23 and 52% 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 Downs Primary School and Nursery rank locally?
- The Downs Primary School and Nursery ranked 310th of 388 primary schools in Essex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% 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 The Downs Primary School and Nursery's absence rate?
- The Downs Primary School and Nursery's overall absence rate is 5.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Downs Primary School and Nursery's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Downs Primary School and Nursery'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.