West Row Academy
Beeches Road, West Row, Bury St. Edmunds, IP28 8NY
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mrs Elisabeth Close
- Sponsor
- Unity Schools Partnership
- SEN provision
- SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- West Suffolk
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 270
- Pupils on roll
- 208
- URN
- 150276
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01638715680
About this school
West Row Academy is a primary academy in Bury St. Edmunds. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 208 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 24 | 21 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 63% | 67% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 13% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 67% | 81% |
| Expected standard in maths | 75% | 76% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 50% | 62% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 104.0 |
Trends over time
How West Row 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 | — | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 63% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 67% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 186 |
| 2024/25 | 195 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How West Row Academy compares
West Row Academy ranked 76th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 57% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 67% | 5.2% | 15.4% | 208 | — |
| Beck Row Primary Academy | 71% | 4.8% | 25.1% | 243 | 1.6 miles |
| Isleham Church of England Primary School | 53% | 5.3% | 11% | 201 | 2.1 miles |
| Great Heath Academy | 55% | 4.4% | 20.5% | 438 | 2.5 miles |
| St Mary's Church of England Academy | 31% | 5.8% | 20% | 414 | 2.5 miles |
| The Pines Primary School | 61% | 4.2% | 8.4% | 240 | 3.8 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report6 May 2026
- 25 May 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 15.38%
- English as an additional language
- 3.1%
- Overall absence
- 5.19%
- Persistent absence
- 11.11%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Beck Row Primary Academy1.6 miles
Primary · Bury St Edmunds
-
Isleham Church of England Primary School2.1 miles
Primary · Ely
-
Great Heath Academy2.5 miles
Primary · Bury St Edmunds
-
St Mary's Church of England Academy2.5 miles
Primary · Bury St Edmunds
-
The Pines Primary School3.8 miles
Primary · Bury St. Edmunds
Other schools in Bury St. Edmunds
West Row Academy ranks 2nd of the 7 ranked primary schools in Bury St. Edmunds.
- Great Whelnetham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Ixworth Church of England Primary School Primary
- Rougham Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Edmundsbury CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Stanton Primary School Primary
- The Pines Primary School Primary
- Thurston Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Sybil Andrews Academy Secondary
- Riverwalk School Academies
- Sir Peter Hall School Free Schools
- The Albany Academies
- Culford School Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does West Row Academy teach?
- West Row Academy teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Bury St. Edmunds.
- Who is the headteacher of West Row Academy?
- The headteacher of West Row Academy is Mrs Elisabeth Close, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was West Row Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected West Row 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 big is West Row Academy?
- West Row Academy has 208 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is West Row Academy full?
- West Row Academy has capacity for 270 pupils and 208 on roll (77%), 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 West Row Academy a faith school?
- No. West Row Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does West Row Academy have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records West Row Academy as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs West Row Academy?
- West Row Academy is part of UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does West Row Academy have?
- The schools register lists West Row Academy's special educational needs provision as: SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have West Row Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 63% in 2023/24 and 67% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does West Row Academy rank locally?
- West Row Academy ranked 76th of 225 primary schools in Suffolk for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 57% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is West Row Academy's absence rate?
- West Row Academy's overall absence rate is 5.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are West Row Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, West Row 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 15 July 2026.