Francis Baily Primary School
Skillman Drive, Thatcham, RG19 4GG
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- EQUINOX LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Elizabeth Hobbs
- Sponsor
- Kennet School
- Constituency
- Newbury
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 567
- Pupils on roll
- 491
- URN
- 147273
- Local authority
- West Berkshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01635862188
About this school
Francis Baily Primary School is a primary academy in Thatcham. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 491 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
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- Requires improvement
- 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 | 77 | 83 | 89 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 56% | 41% | 58% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 1% | 3% |
| Expected standard in reading | 77% | 63% | 71% |
| Expected standard in maths | 74% | 64% | 67% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 75% | 57% | 62% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 102.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.70 | - | - |
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 Francis Baily 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 | West Berkshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 56% | 54% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 41% | 54.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 58% | 55.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 551 |
| 2023/24 | 534 |
| 2024/25 | 533 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Francis Baily Primary School compares
Francis Baily Primary School ranked 26th of 52 primary schools in West Berkshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 36% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 58% | 5.5% | 17.8% | 491 | — |
| Spurcroft Primary School | 49% | 4.6% | 13.7% | 408 | 0.5 miles |
| Thatcham Park CofE Primary | 51% | 4.2% | 24% | 399 | 0.6 miles |
| Whitelands Park Primary School | 57% | 6.1% | 22.1% | 372 | 0.9 miles |
| Bucklebury C.E. Primary School | 53% | 5.4% | 16.2% | 99 | 1.2 miles |
| Parsons Down Infant School | — | 6.5% | 8.9% | 88 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 17.82%
- English as an additional language
- 11.6%
- Overall absence
- 5.54%
- Persistent absence
- 14.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Spurcroft Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Thatcham
-
Thatcham Park CofE Primary0.6 miles
Primary · Thatcham
-
Whitelands Park Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Thatcham
-
Bucklebury C.E. Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Reading
-
Parsons Down Infant School1.2 miles
Primary · Thatcham
Other schools in Thatcham
Francis Baily Primary School ranks 7th of the 12 ranked primary schools in Thatcham.
- Ashford Hill Primary School Primary
- Cold Ash St Mark's CE Primary School Primary
- Curridge Primary School Primary
- Hampstead Norreys C.E. Primary School Primary
- Hermitage Primary School Primary
- Parsons Down Infant School Primary
- Parsons Down Junior School Primary
- Spurcroft Primary School Primary
- St Finian's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Thatcham Park CofE Primary Primary
- Whitelands Park Primary School Primary
- Yattendon C.E. Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Francis Baily Primary School teach?
- Francis Baily Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Thatcham.
- Who is the headteacher of Francis Baily Primary School?
- The headteacher of Francis Baily Primary School is Miss Elizabeth Hobbs, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Francis Baily Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Francis Baily 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 Francis Baily Primary School?
- Francis Baily Primary School has 491 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Francis Baily Primary School full?
- Francis Baily Primary School has capacity for 567 pupils and 491 on roll (87%), 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 Francis Baily Primary School a faith school?
- No. Francis Baily Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Francis Baily Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Francis Baily Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Francis Baily Primary School?
- Francis Baily Primary School is part of EQUINOX LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Francis Baily Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 56% in 2022/23 and 58% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Francis Baily Primary School rank locally?
- Francis Baily Primary School ranked 26th of 52 primary schools in West Berkshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 36% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Francis Baily Primary School's absence rate?
- Francis Baily Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Francis Baily Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Francis Baily 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.