School Chooser

Choppington Primary School

Primary · ages 2-11MixedCouncil109 pupilsNursery Free breakfast clubChoppingtonNorthumberland
School Chooser Score
31
Below
similar schools
Likely range 12 to 64, so it could be “in line”
Out of 100. Better than 72% of the 50 schools most like it. Getting better year on year.
OfstedNo overall gradeLast Ofsted inspection, October 2024
Reached the expected level at 1162%England 63%
Attendance94.4%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families75%Far more than most schools
Places11 spare109 pupils, 120 places
Pupils per teacher25.9School workforce census

Choppington Primary School is a council school in Choppington for boys and girls aged 2 to 11. It has 109 pupils and room for 120. About 74 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 31 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 72% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2024, no overall grade.

Eastgate, Choppington, NE62 5RR01670 823197choppington.northumberland.sch.ukMr Richard Smith headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 1 October 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

13 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.

Reached the expected level at 1162%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level0%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score103.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score100.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 31%31%20172018: 63%63%20182019: 67%67%20192023: 6%6%20232024: 60%60%20242025: 62%62%2025
Since 2017: +31%Improving overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017NorthumberlandEngland
Pupils tested1315169813
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths62%60%6%67%63%31%60%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths0%0%0%11%0%0%7%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score103.0105.097.0109.0104.0100.0104.5105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score100.0103.096.0105.0101.0100.0103.6104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score100.098.094.0106.099.0105.0103.7105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard77%80%25%78%63%46%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard62%73%44%67%63%46%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)62%60%25%78%63%69%
Reading progressReading progress score-4.9+4.5+2.8-0.8
Maths progressMaths progress score-4.2+1.9+0.4-1.3

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. None of the gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
50%71%
Gap 21 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Catchment area

Northumberland council has drawn an official catchment area for this school. You can see it on the map below; it covers about 5.4 square kilometres. Living inside it moves your child up the queue when there are more applicants than places. It doesn't guarantee a place: the council's admissions rules decide the order.

Set your home postcode at the top of the page to see whether you live inside it.

A few spare places90 pupils for 105 places, 2024/25
86% full

About 15 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 9% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Northumberland council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

What a home inside the catchment costs

Typical sale price inside the catchment£213,000half sold for £143k to £266k
Homes sold89December 2023 to December 2025, Land Registry
Compared with the district+2%a typical home in the district sells for £209,085

Every home sold inside the council's catchment area, of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.

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.

Pupils on roll109Census January 2026
Places12091% full
Pupils from low-income families67%75% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English0%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support28%30 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan3%3 pupils with a plan
Average class size26.33 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)75%£110,050 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls50 / 59
White British pupils99%

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (17), language and communications needs (9), Moderate learning difficulty (4), Autistic spectrum disorder (1), Other difficulty or disability (1), Physical disability (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll109111116120128118
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals67%61%60%60%57%57%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language0%0%0%0%0%1%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support19%23%25%24%27%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%0%1%2%1%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.4% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance94.4%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school14.1%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils9.02024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission2.1%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence5.6%6.0%6.0%7.6%1.9%2.9%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.5%4.1%4.8%6.6%1.6%1.9%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence2.1%1.9%1.2%1.1%0.4%1.0%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence14.1%21.3%13.2%27.0%1.3%2.7%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate9.09.59.20.00.0
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers4.0full-time equivalent, 4 people
Pupils per teacher25.9Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants2.4full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£54,317
Teachers who left in the year50%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher1.32023/24

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£9,245England £7,738. Total £924k
Income per pupil£10,195England £7,697. Total £1.0m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,602England £3,480
Money in reserve22%A lot put by: £228k, £2,279 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out+£95kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£9,245spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m8612 months to June 2026, mostly anti-social behaviour
Local crime rate90 per 1,000 peopleabout the England average
Typical house price£207,950Northumberland
Nearest bus stop120 mMiners' Cottages, 6 stops within 500 m

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.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Mowbray Primary SchoolCouncil0.7 miles238No overall grade 202528Compare
Ringway Primary SchoolCouncil1.1 miles189Good 202466Compare
Meadowdale AcademyAcademy1.2 miles202Good 202352Compare
Stakeford Primary SchoolCouncil1.3 miles162Good 20249Compare
Bedlington West End Primary SchoolCouncil1.4 miles214Good 202423Compare
St Bede's Catholic Primary SchoolAcademy1.4 miles205Report card 202633Compare
Bedlington Station Primary SchoolCouncil1.5 miles211Good 202314Compare
Bedlington Whitley Memorial Church of England Primary SchoolChurch of England1.6 miles233Requires improvement 20231Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Choppington Primary School with the 50 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 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats72%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the upper half of its group. Its score of 31 is 14 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 0 · middle 17 · highest 95100

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 31 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 31% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 12 to 64. 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 atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%below
-0.25
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 13 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 1.9 years old
Progress pupils make20%well below
-0.22
DfE progress measure; 13 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%well above
+0.23
results and attendance rising year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%below
-0.05
2024/25; 85 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%above
+0.05
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 13 pupils
What parents say0%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 Choppington Primary School a good school?

The figures are weak. Choppington Primary School scores 31 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 72% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 12 to 64, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been getting better over the last five years.

What is Choppington Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Choppington Primary School not judged at its last full inspection on 1 October 2024.

How good are Choppington Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 62% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% went further and reached the higher level. The year group was small, so the percentages jump around a lot from year to year.

How many pupils does Choppington Primary School have?

109 pupils aged 2 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 120 places, so it is 91% full.

Is Choppington Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 15 places were empty in 2024/25 (14% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Choppington Primary School?

Pupils were in school 94.4% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 14% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Choppington Primary School?

The average class had 26.3 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

Does Choppington Primary School have a breakfast club?

Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Eastgate, Choppington, NE62 5RR
Telephone
01670 823197
Website
www.choppington.northumberland.sch.uk
Headteacher
Mr Richard Smith
Free breakfast club
Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 2-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Northumberland
Ward
Choppington & Hepscott
Constituency
Blyth and Ashington
Setting
Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
122180 · LAESTAB 9292037 · UKPRN 10077644

Where these figures come from