Abbey Infant School
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Abbey Infant School is a council school in Smethwick for boys and girls aged 3 to 7. It has 280 pupils, 10 more than it has places for. About 13 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 50 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 40% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Maurice Road, Smethwick, B67 5LR0121 429 1689abbeyfederation.co.ukDr Richard Kentish executive headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 14 March 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
About 16 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 6% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (9), Moderate learning difficulty (7), language and communications needs (4), Autistic spectrum disorder (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 280 | 278 | 278 | 290 | 303 | 297 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 12% | 13% | 16% | 15% | 13% | 17% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 23% | 25% | 20% | 19% | 17% | 14% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 10% | 6% | 6% | 4% | 3% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 4.8% | 4.5% | 4.4% | 4.5% | 3.1% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.9% | 3.3% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 2.2% | 3.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.9% | 1.2% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 7.8% | 10.2% | 8.7% | 7.7% | 5.0% | 9.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey Junior School | Council | 160 m | 357 | Not inspected | 77 | Compare |
| St Gregory's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 300 m | 230 | Outstanding 2024 | 62 | Compare |
| Annie Lennard Primary School | Council | 510 m | 229 | No overall grade 2024 | 50 | Compare |
| Bearwood Primary School | Council | 650 m | 465 | Good 2023 | 64 | Compare |
| Uplands Manor Primary School and Nursery | Council | 840 m | 734 | Good 2023 | 19 | Compare |
| Lightwoods Primary Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 413 | Good 2024 | 58 | Compare |
| Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 206 | Requires improvement 2023 | 34 | Compare |
| Bleakhouse Primary School | Council | 0.8 miles | 432 | Good 2023 | 19 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Abbey Infant School with the 48 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 48 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 48 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Abbey Infant School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Lady and St Kenelm RC School | Roman Catholic | 3.8 miles | 203 | Report card 2026 | 88 | Compare |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 4.3 miles | 210 | Good 2023 | 94 | Compare |
| St Chad's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 7.2 miles | 238 | Good 2023 | 81 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 50 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 50% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 24 to 76. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 19% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.02 | Ofsted grade, 3.5 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.15 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.12 | 2024/25; 179 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Abbey Infant School a good school?
It is about average. Abbey Infant School scores 50 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 40% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 24 to 76, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Abbey Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Abbey Infant School good at its last full inspection on 14 March 2023.
How many pupils does Abbey Infant School have?
280 pupils aged 3 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 104% full.
Is Abbey Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 16 places were empty in 2024/25 (6% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Abbey Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 8% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Abbey Infant School?
The average class had 27.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Maurice Road, Smethwick, B67 5LR
- Telephone
- 0121 429 1689
- Website
- www.abbeyfederation.co.uk
- Executive Headteacher
- Dr Richard Kentish
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Sandwell
- Ward
- Abbey
- Constituency
- Smethwick
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 103930 · LAESTAB 3332102 · UKPRN 10070964
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Admissions outcomes: Sandwell council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2024, 2025, 2026.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.