SF School Facts UK

Primary school in Thatcham, West Berkshire

Parsons Down Junior School

Herons Way, Thatcham, Berkshire, RG19 3SR

Ofsted Good · 2022
School website 01635866700
Ofsted Good July 2022
Met the expected standard 41% in the bottom 10% nationally
Pupils 139 39% full
Local deprivation 8/10 less deprived

Ofsted

Goodas at 6 July 2022

Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 6 July 2022.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 4 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

Current published outcome
Good
Last overall grade in this dataset
Good
Days since inspection
1,549 days
Framework era
Historic overall-grade framework (ended September 2024)

These four fields describe the latest published inspection on this record. The dataset does not keep a previous inspection row, so a school inspected under the current framework will usually have no overall grade to show as “prior”.

Key stage 2 results 2024/25

Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths

41% England 60.7%

Reached the higher standard

0% England 8.1%

Average reading score

102 England 105.3

Average maths score

101 England 104.1

On the headline measure this school is in the bottom 10% of state-funded primaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is middle, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.

There are no progress measures for primary schools any more. They were calculated from a key stage 1 baseline, and statutory key stage 1 tests ended in 2023, so nothing has been published since. That makes attainment the only official measure — and attainment tracks intake closely, which is why the comparison against similar schools above is the more useful of the two lines.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
139
Places
360
How full
39% full — 139 of 360 places taken, so places are likely to be available
Girls / boys
76 / 63
Overall absence
6%

primary schools average 5.2%

Persistently absent
15%

primary schools average 12.8% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
23%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
12%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
5%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
23%

England 15%

School funding 2025-26 financial year

Not found for this URN in the 2025-26 release.

Evidence found
Not found for this URN in the 2025-26 release; this is not represented as £0.
Source coverage
DfE mainstream-school allocations for running costs for pupils aged 5-16, importer snapshot 23 August 2026.
What this means
The official mainstream allocation release does not provide a publishable row for this establishment.
What this does not mean
The school received no public funding or has no budget; other establishment types and funding streams use different publications.

Allocation is not expenditure. DfE says this release combines the schools block with several other revenue grants and excludes capital spending. Funding is shown for context and is never used in School Facts ordering, peer groups or quality claims. Source, licence and coverage.

Roads and getting there

Road casualties within 500m

Child pedestrian casualties
0

England average 1.6 — pedestrians under 16, over five years

All reported collisions
7

England average 24.2 over five years

Of those, serious or fatal
2
Busiest road nearby
U

2,395 vehicles a day (2009)

Public transport

Bus stops within 500m
11

England average 11.9

Nearest station
Newbury Racecourse Rail Station

2.2 km away — railway station

Traffic volume is the context the collision count needs: a school beside a major road will record more collisions than one on a quiet street without being any less well run.

Every collision reported to the police within 500m of the school over the five years to 2024, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe — counts rise with traffic and with how built up an area is, and a rural school on a fast road may have fewer collisions but a worse one. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position.

The area around the school

8/10 Deprivation decile

Among the less deprived half of England.

6/10 Child poverty decile

Among around the middle for England for children in low-income families.

Indices of Deprivation 2019, for the small area the school stands in. 1 means the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. The second measure counts only children living in low-income families, which is the one that describes the intake a school is likely to draw on.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£335,000

postcode sector RG19 3 · 318 sales

Typical range
£285,000 to £390,125

middle half of sales

Detached
£475,000
Semi-detached
£344,000
Terraced
£318,000
Flat
£171,750

Homes around this school are dearer than most of England.

Every residential sale registered in this postcode sector since January 2024, from HM Land Registry. A sector covers roughly 2,500 addresses. England's median over the same period was £293,000.

Who lives there

Adults with a degree
26%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
17%

England 18.3%

In professional or managerial work
14%

England 13.4%

Households deprived in 2+ ways
12%

England 17.8%

Residents in very good health
49%

England 48.4%

Housing

Owned by the occupier
74%

England 62.7%

Social housing
16%

England 17%

Privately rented
9%

England 19.2%

Detached homes
45%

England 38.2%

Four or more bedrooms
20%

England 22.5%

No car
10%

England 21.9%

Census 2021, for West Berkshire 014C and the wider neighbourhood around it. These figures describe the area, not the pupils — children may travel in from much further away, and for selective, faith and independent schools they usually do.

School details

Type
Community school
Phase
Primary
Ages
Ages 7–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Executive Headteacher: Catherine Bull
Register status
Open
Local authority
West Berkshire
Ward
Thatcham West
Constituency
Newbury
URN
109923

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Official DfE record
Open the register entry

The source record for this establishment and URN.

The URN identifies this registered establishment. If a school converts or is replaced, DfE may issue a new URN; this page does not stitch different establishments together by a similar name.

Nearest primary schools

SchoolOfstedExpected standardDistanceCompare
Parsons Down Infant SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 — 0.1 mi
Whitelands Park Primary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 47% 0.7 mi
Thatcham Park CofE PrimaryVoluntary controlled school Good 2024 54% 0.8 mi
Fir Tree Primary School and NurseryAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 66% 0.9 mi
Spurcroft Primary SchoolCommunity school Good 2022 43% 0.9 mi
Francis Baily Primary SchoolAcademy converter Report card 2026 56% 1.3 mi
St Finian's Catholic Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school Report card 2026 54% 1.7 mi
St Joseph's Catholic Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2023 73% 1.7 mi

Schools like this

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one — same phase and sector, and as near as the data allows on size, disadvantage, SEN, English as an additional language and the deprivation of the surrounding area. These are the schools it can fairly be judged against.

This school 41%
Median of its 10 closest peers 63%
West Berkshire average 54%
England average 60.7%

Percentage meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. This school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.

SchoolAreaOfstedExpected standardCompare
Ancaster CofE Primary SchoolVoluntary controlled school Grantham Good 2022 58%
Carrant Brook Junior SchoolAcademy sponsor led Tewkesbury Requires improvement 2022 —
New Park Primary AcademyAcademy converter Harrogate Good 2024 64%
Steeple Claydon School and Pre-SchoolCommunity school Buckingham Good 2022 46%
Maple Cross Junior Mixed Infant and Nursery SchoolCommunity school Rickmansworth Good 2022 29%
Clover Leys Spencer AcademyFree schools Derby Good 2024 —
Byfield SchoolAcademy converter Daventry No overall grade 42%
Colyton Primary AcademyAcademy sponsor led Colyton No overall grade 63%
St James Church of England Primary School, HanneyAcademy converter Wantage Good 2024 65%
Kennet Valley Primary SchoolCommunity school Reading No overall grade 64%
Uffington Church of England Primary SchoolVoluntary controlled school Faringdon Good 2022 20%
St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior SchoolVoluntary aided school Chelmsford Good 2022 71%

Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable — sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and simple geography all matter and are not in the calculation.

Evidence ledger

Reference dates and join methods are kept separate because the figures do not all describe the same year or geography.

EvidencePublisherReference dateHow it reaches this page
School identityGet Information About Schools23 August 2026Exact URN 109923; unified importer snapshot
Inspection evidenceOfsted management information31 July 2026Exact URN; inspection 6 July 2022
AttainmentDfE performance tables2024/25Exact URN; phase-specific definitions
Pupil intakeDfE school census2024/25Exact URN; suppressed values remain missing
Funding allocationDfE school funding statistics2025-26 financial yearNo row for this URN in the mainstream-school release; not represented as zero
Roads and transportDfT road casualties, traffic and NaPTANFive-year road window; access-node snapshotCoordinate join within the stated radius
NeighbourhoodONS Census2021LSOA/MSOA containing the school, not pupil homes
DeprivationEnglish Indices of Deprivation2019LSOA containing the school
Home pricesHM Land Registry Price Paid DataSales since January 2024School postcode sector, not a catchment

These sources are published for reuse under the Open Government Licence v3.0, including the Crown database-right notice that accompanies Price Paid Data. Definitions and source notes. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.

Questions this school record can answer

Which exact school is this?

Match the DfE URN, school name and address; names and structures can change while the URN remains the stable identifier.

What does the latest inspection evidence say?

Use the inspection date and framework shown. Do not compare a legacy overall grade directly with the newer report-card judgements.

How should I compare nearby schools?

Compare the same phase, cohort and academic year, then keep intake context and confidence intervals beside performance measures.

What must a parent verify?

Check current admissions rules, travel practicality, support for the child’s needs and the school’s latest official information before deciding.