SCHOOL PROFILE

Barnes Farm Primary School

Primary Academy converter URN 146000
Open
Pupils 8,834,192 Latest school census
Capacity 630 Published school capacity
Capacity used 85.6% Pupils as a share of capacity
Age range 5 – 11 Statutory age range
OFSTED

Latest ungraded inspection

12 October 2022
Latest published outcome School remains Good
SCHOOL DETAILS

About this school

School type Academy converter
Phase Primary
Gender Mixed
Religious character Does not apply
Local authority Essex
Trust THE CHELMSFORD LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
Census date 15 January 2026
PUPIL PROFILE

School community

Latest published pupil characteristics for 2025/26.

2025/26
Total pupils 539 539 full-time · 0 part-time
Female pupils 265 49.2% of pupils
Male pupils 274 50.8% of pupils

Free school meals

Pupils eligible for free school meals.

16.5%
8.3 pts below England
School 16.5%
Chelmsford 14.4%
East of England 19.7%
England 24.8%

English as an additional language

Pupils whose first language is not English.

16.0%
4.3 pts below England
School 16.0%
Chelmsford 11.6%
East of England 16.4%
England 20.3%

Young carers

Pupils recorded as young carers.

4.5%
3.5 pts above England
School 4.5%
Chelmsford 1.3%
East of England 1.7%
England 1.0%

Ethnicity

Largest recorded pupil groups.

White British
64.4%
347
Any other White background
7.6%
41
African
5.4%
29
Indian
4.3%
23
White and Asian
3.3%
18
White and Black Caribbean
3.2%
17
Council, regional and national comparisons are pupil-weighted using published school census counts.
ADDITIONAL NEEDS

Special educational needs

Pupils receiving SEN support or with an education, health and care plan.

2025/26
Pupils with SEN 21.2% 114 of 539 pupils
0.3 pts above England England: 20.8%
School 21.2%
Chelmsford 16.0%
East of England 19.8%
England 20.8%
SEN support 16.0% 86 pupils
England 14.8% 1.2 pts above
EHC plans 5.2% 28 pupils
England 6.0% 0.8 pts below
PRIMARY NEEDS

Most common identified needs

Pupils
Social, emotional & mental health 42
Autistic spectrum disorder 34
Speech, language & communication 23
Moderate learning difficulty 5
No specialist assessment yet 3
Specific learning difficulty 3

SEN comparisons are pupil-weighted using published 2025/26 Department for Education school-level data. Primary needs combine pupils receiving SEN support and pupils with EHC plans.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Key stage 2 outcomes

Published Department for Education results for 2024/25.

2024/25
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading, writing & maths

50.0% 10.4 pts below England
School 50.0%
Chelmsford 62.7%
East of England 58.3%
England 60.4%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading

71.0%

2.8 pts below England

School 71.0%
Chelmsford 76.2%
East of England 72.9%
England 73.8%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Writing

71.0%

0.7 pts above England

School 71.0%
Chelmsford 70.4%
East of England 68.0%
England 70.3%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Maths

70.0%

2.0 pts below England

School 70.0%
Chelmsford 73.4%
East of England 70.3%
England 72.0%
School results show the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard. Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages and are not pupil-weighted official attainment rates.
ATTENDANCE & ABSENCE

Attendance profile

Published Department for Education absence data for 2024/25. Lower absence rates are generally better.

2024/25
ABSENCE RATE

Overall absence

5.55%

Percentage of possible sessions missed.

0.67 pts lower than England
School 5.55%
Chelmsford 6.61%
East of England 6.17%
England 6.22%
ABSENCE RATE

Persistent absence

14.56%

Pupils missing 10% or more of sessions.

1.26 pts lower than England
School 14.56%
Chelmsford 15.59%
East of England 15.39%
England 15.82%
ABSENCE RATE

Severe absence

0.96%

Pupils missing 50% or more of sessions.

0.85 pts lower than England
School 0.96%
Chelmsford 2.32%
East of England 1.83%
England 1.80%
Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages rather than pupil-weighted official absence rates.
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

School context

Comparison with open primary schools.

CAPACITY

Capacity utilisation

85.6% 2.6 pts below England
Barnes Farm Primary School
85.6%
Chelmsford
91.7%
East of England
87.4%
England
88.2%
Benchmarks use open schools in the same phase. Capacity utilisation is calculated from published pupil and capacity figures.
Sources: Department for Education · Get Information about Schools · Ofsted monthly management information