Howard Community Academy
Beard Road, Bury St Edmunds, IP32 6SA
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ANGLIAN LEARNING
- Headteacher
- Mrs Alison Weir
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Anglian Learning
- Constituency
- Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 315
- Pupils on roll
- 210
- URN
- 146280
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01284766278
About this school
Howard Community Academy is a primary academy in Bury St Edmunds. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 210 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Howard Community Academy, 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
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
- Outstanding
- 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 | 25 | 21 | 14 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 24% | 24% | 36% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 36% | 48% | 71% |
| Expected standard in maths | 40% | 48% | 50% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 36% | 33% | 43% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 97.0 | 100.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 95.0 | 98.0 | 99.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.90 | - | - |
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 Howard Community Academy 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 | 24% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 24% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 36% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 175 |
| 2023/24 | 190 |
| 2024/25 | 196 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Howard Community Academy compares
Howard Community Academy ranked 209th 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 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36% | 7.4% | 47.2% | 210 | — |
| Tollgate Primary School | 68% | 6.1% | 30.7% | 437 | 0.6 miles |
| Sexton's Manor Primary School | 27% | 5.4% | 23.9% | 165 | 0.8 miles |
| St Edmundsbury CofE Primary Academy | 25% | 5.3% | 27.6% | 168 | 0.9 miles |
| Westgate Community Primary School and Nursery | 39% | 6.2% | 29.5% | 301 | 1.5 miles |
| Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School | 69% | 4% | 13.3% | 328 | 1.7 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)
- 47.19%
- English as an additional language
- 15.8%
- Overall absence
- 7.41%
- Persistent absence
- 21.85%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Tollgate Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Bury St Edmunds
-
Sexton's Manor Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Bury St Edmunds
-
St Edmundsbury CofE Primary Academy0.9 miles
Primary · Bury St. Edmunds
-
Westgate Community Primary School and Nursery1.5 miles
Primary · Bury St Edmunds
-
Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School1.7 miles
Primary · Bury St Edmunds
Other schools in Bury St Edmunds
Howard Community Academy ranks 22nd of the 26 ranked primary schools in Bury St Edmunds.
- Abbots Green Primary Academy Primary
- All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Lawshall Primary
- Bardwell Church of England Primary School Primary
- Barningham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Barrow Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Beck Row Primary Academy Primary
- Cockfield Church of England Primary School Primary
- Elmswell Community Primary School Primary
- Great Barton Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Great Heath Academy Primary
- Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School Primary
- Hardwick Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Howard Community Academy teach?
- Howard Community Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Bury St Edmunds.
- Who is the headteacher of Howard Community Academy?
- The headteacher of Howard Community Academy is Mrs Alison Weir, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Howard Community Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Howard Community Academy, 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 Howard Community Academy?
- Howard Community Academy has 210 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Howard Community Academy full?
- Howard Community Academy has capacity for 315 pupils and 210 on roll (67%), 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 Howard Community Academy a faith school?
- No. Howard Community Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Howard Community Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Howard Community Academy as having nursery classes.
- Is Howard Community Academy part of an academy trust?
- Howard Community Academy is part of ANGLIAN LEARNING. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Howard Community Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 24% in 2022/23 and 36% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Howard Community Academy compare with other schools in Suffolk?
- Howard Community Academy ranked 209th 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 21% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Howard Community Academy's absence rate?
- Howard Community Academy's overall absence rate is 7.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Howard Community Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Howard Community Academy'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.