SF School Facts UK

Primary school in Ipswich, Suffolk

The Willows Primary School

Downing Close, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP2 9ER

Ofsted Requires improvement · 2024
School website 01473683178
Ofsted Requires improvement February 2024
Met the expected standard 20% in the bottom 10% nationally
Chance of a place 100% of first choices offered
Local deprivation 1/10 more deprived

Ofsted

Requires improvementas at 13 February 2024

Graded Requires improvement at its last graded inspection, on 13 February 2024.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 2 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
Requires improvement
Last overall grade in this dataset
Requires improvement
Days since inspection
962 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

20% England 60.7%

Reached the higher standard

0% England 8.1%

Average reading score

100 England 105.3

Average maths score

97 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 most disadvantaged, 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.

Getting a place 2026/27 entry

About as many first choices as places. Of the 19 families who named this school as their first choice, 100% were offered a place.

Places offered
20

for entry into Reception

Named it first choice
19
First choices per place
0.95

England average 1.00

First choices offered a place
100%

England 95.1%

Demand has been broadly steady over three years.

These are offers made on national offer day for 2026/27 entry, from the local authority's co-ordinated admissions round. They exclude later movement — waiting lists, appeals and in-year admissions — so a school shown as oversubscribed may still have places by September.

Oversubscription measures popularity, not quality, and the two are not the same thing: a school can be heavily oversubscribed because of its intake, its faith designation or simply because the nearest alternative is further away. We do not publish catchment maps, because catchments are not published: each admissions authority applies its own criteria afresh every year, and the distance that got a child in last year is not a boundary. Read the school's own admissions arrangements for the rules that will actually apply.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
259
Places
420
How full
62% full — 259 of 420 places taken, so places are likely to be available
Girls / boys
139 / 120
Overall absence
7%

primary schools average 5.2%

Persistently absent
22%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
55%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
23%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
4%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
21%

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
6

England average 24.2 over five years

Of those, serious or fatal
1
Busiest road nearby
U

2,150 vehicles a day (2019)

Public transport

Bus stops within 500m
13

England average 11.9

Nearest station
Ipswich Rail Station

1.4 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

1/10 Deprivation decile

Among the most deprived fifth of England.

1/10 Child poverty decile

Among the most deprived fifth of 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
£250,000

postcode sector IP2 9 · 314 sales

Typical range
£214,500 to £305,000

middle half of sales

Detached
£340,000
Semi-detached
£250,000
Terraced
£215,000
Flat
£122,500

Homes around this school are close to the England average.

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
16%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
27%

England 18.3%

In professional or managerial work
7%

England 13.4%

Households deprived in 2+ ways
25%

England 17.8%

Residents in very good health
43%

England 48.4%

Housing

Owned by the occupier
29%

England 62.7%

Social housing
60%

England 17%

Privately rented
9%

England 19.2%

Detached homes
27%

England 38.2%

Four or more bedrooms
12%

England 22.5%

No car
39%

England 21.9%

Census 2021, for Ipswich 015B 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
Academy converter
Phase
Primary
Ages
Ages 4–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Kelly Head
Opened as this establishment
1 April 2017
Register status
Open
Local authority
Suffolk
Ward
Stoke Park
Constituency
Ipswich
URN
144216

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.

Admissions history

The official school-level admissions releases contain up to 13 national-offer-day observations, from 2014/15 to 2026/27. The chart shows first choices per place; the table keeps the underlying counts.

Reception

1.10 2017/18: 0.90 first choices per place2018/19: 0.90 first choices per place2019/20: 0.92 first choices per place2020/21: 0.78 first choices per place2021/22: 0.82 first choices per place2022/23: 0.95 first choices per place2023/24: 0.93 first choices per place2024/25: 0.92 first choices per place2025/26: 1.00 first choices per place2026/27: 0.95 first choices per place201720192021202320252026
All 10 annual observations
Entry yearPlacesFirst choicesPer placeFirst choices offered
2017/18 52 47 0.90 100%
2018/19 60 54 0.90 98%
2019/20 49 45 0.92 100%
2020/21 60 47 0.78 100%
2021/22 40 33 0.82 100%
2022/23 42 40 0.95 100%
2023/24 40 37 0.93 100%
2024/25 25 23 0.92 100%
2025/26 17 17 1.00 100%
2026/27 20 19 0.95 100%

These are annual observations, not forecasts. They exclude waiting lists, appeals and in-year admissions. Each series follows this exact URN only, so academy conversions and missing releases remain visible as gaps rather than being joined by name.

Nearest primary schools

SchoolOfstedExpected standardDistanceCompare
St Mark's Catholic Primary SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 — 0.4 mi
Halifax Primary SchoolAcademy converter No overall grade 63% 0.5 mi
Gusford Community Primary SchoolAcademy sponsor led No overall grade 48% 0.6 mi
The Oaks Primary SchoolAcademy converter No overall grade 64% 0.6 mi
Sprites Primary AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 50% 0.9 mi
Hillside Primary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Report card 2026 30% 0.9 mi
Ranelagh Primary SchoolCommunity school Good 2022 37% 1 mi
St Matthew's Church of England Primary School, IpswichAcademy converter Good 2023 51% 1.4 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 20%
Median of its 12 closest peers 50%
Suffolk average 56.4%
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
Radcliffe Primary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Manchester Good 2022 40%
The Bromley-Pensnett Primary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Brierley Hill Good 2023 47%
Kingsland Primary School (NC)Community school Birmingham Good 2023 53%
Burnley Springfield Community Primary SchoolCommunity school Burnley No overall grade 33%
Harwood Park Primary SchoolCommunity school Heywood Good 2024 59%
Windmill Primary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Telford Good 2022 71%
Milton Court Primary AcademyAcademy sponsor led Sittingbourne No overall grade 50%
Warren Farm Primary SchoolAcademy converter Birmingham Good 2023 57%
Co-op Academy PortlandAcademy sponsor led Birkenhead No overall grade 38%
Edward Heneage Primary AcademyAcademy sponsor led Grimsby No overall grade 79%
Roscoe Primary SchoolAcademy converter Liverpool Report card 2026 46%
Oldfleet Primary SchoolAcademy converter Hull Requires improvement 2024 29%

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 144216; unified importer snapshot
Inspection evidenceOfsted management information31 July 2026Exact URN; inspection 13 February 2024
AttainmentDfE performance tables2024/25Exact URN; phase-specific definitions
AdmissionsDfE school applications and offers2026/27 plus history to 2014/15Exact URN and entry point; national offer day
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.