Combs Ford Primary School
Glemsford Road, Stowmarket, IP14 2PN
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE CHILDREN'S ENDEAVOUR TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Matt Wesley
- Sponsor
- The Children's Endeavour Trust
- Constituency
- Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 299
- URN
- 147880
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01449613112
About this school
Combs Ford Primary School is a primary academy in Stowmarket. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 299 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Combs Ford Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- 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 | 55 | 49 | 58 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 53% | 48% | 47% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 4% | 8% | 3% |
| Expected standard in reading | 71% | 69% | 66% |
| Expected standard in maths | 65% | 53% | 62% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 64% | 65% | 66% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 104.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 102.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.70 | - | - |
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 Combs Ford 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 | 53% | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 48% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 47% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 377 |
| 2023/24 | 361 |
| 2024/25 | 337 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Combs Ford Primary School compares
Combs Ford Primary School ranked 180th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 18% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47% | 6.4% | 23.2% | 299 | — |
| Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 80% | 3.6% | 23.7% | 177 | 0.2 miles |
| Abbot's Hall Community Primary School | 63% | 4.3% | 16.3% | 366 | 0.7 miles |
| Cedars Park Community Primary School | 72% | 3.7% | 14.8% | 389 | 1.0 miles |
| Chilton Community Primary School | 68% | 5.3% | 43.4% | 133 | 1.1 miles |
| Wood Ley Community Primary School | 49% | 4.9% | 16.5% | 307 | 1.5 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)
- 23.15%
- English as an additional language
- 5.9%
- Overall absence
- 6.4%
- Persistent absence
- 13.78%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Stowmarket
-
Abbot's Hall Community Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Stowmarket
-
Cedars Park Community Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Stowmarket
-
Chilton Community Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Stowmarket
-
Wood Ley Community Primary School1.5 miles
Primary · Stowmarket
Other schools in Stowmarket
Combs Ford Primary School ranks 13th of the 15 ranked primary schools in Stowmarket.
- Abbot's Hall Community Primary School Primary
- Bacton Primary School Primary
- Cedars Park Community Primary School Primary
- Chilton Community Primary School Primary
- Crawford's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Freeman Community Primary School Primary
- Grace Cook Primary School Primary
- Great Finborough Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Helmingham Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Mendlesham Primary School Primary
- Old Newton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Ringshall School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Combs Ford Primary School teach?
- Combs Ford Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Stowmarket.
- Who is the headteacher of Combs Ford Primary School?
- The headteacher of Combs Ford Primary School is Mr Matt Wesley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Combs Ford Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Combs Ford 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 many pupils are at Combs Ford Primary School?
- Combs Ford Primary School has 299 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Combs Ford Primary School full?
- Combs Ford Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 299 on roll (71%), 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 Combs Ford Primary School a faith school?
- No. Combs Ford Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Combs Ford Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Combs Ford Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Is Combs Ford Primary School part of an academy trust?
- Combs Ford Primary School is part of THE CHILDREN'S ENDEAVOUR TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Combs Ford Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 53% in 2022/23 and 47% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Combs Ford Primary School compare with other schools in Suffolk?
- Combs Ford Primary School ranked 180th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 18% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Combs Ford Primary School's absence rate?
- Combs Ford Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Combs Ford Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Combs Ford 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.