Christ Church First School
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Christ Church First School is a sponsored academy in Frome for boys and girls aged 2 to 9. It has 47 pupils and room for 240. About 66 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 58 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 89% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in January 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Feltham Lane, Frome, BA11 5AJ01373 463781christchurchschoolfrome.org.ukMr Joe Beament headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 13 January 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 8 February 2022 | Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 2 | Inadequate |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
145 places were empty (69% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in.
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 Somerset council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
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.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 8.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 24.0 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (8), language and communications needs (4), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), Moderate learning difficulty (2), Physical disability (1), Severe learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 47 | 67 | 77 | 108 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 66% | 67% | 64% | 52% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 15% | 16% | 10% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.2% 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 | 7.8% | 9.4% | 10.1% | 9.6% | 7.0% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.7% | 5.6% | 6.7% | 7.2% | 4.7% | 3.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 3.1% | 3.8% | 3.4% | 2.4% | 2.3% | 1.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 23.0% | 32.0% | 30.5% | 33.6% | 21.8% | 8.7% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 10.5 | 3.9 | 21.3 | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for Christ Church CofE First School, the school this one replaced in January 2023. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
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
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St John's Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, Frome | Church of England | 0.6 miles | 185 | Requires improvement 2024 | 1 | Compare |
| Avanti Park School | Free school | 0.7 miles | 503 | Good 2024 | 71 | Compare |
| Vallis First School | Council | 1.0 miles | 185 | No overall grade 2025 | 29 | Compare |
| St Louis Catholic Primary School, Frome | Academy | 1.0 miles | 178 | No overall grade 2025 | 34 | Compare |
| Oakfield Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 490 | Requires improvement 2024 | 3 | Compare |
| Trinity Church of England First School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 297 | Good 2023 | 69 | Compare |
| Hayesdown First School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 299 | Good 2024 | 72 | Compare |
| Selwood Academy | Academy | 1.3 miles | 658 | Good 2022 | 45 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Christ Church First School with the 47 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 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 58 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 58% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 29 to 82. 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 | 20% | below | -0.29 | Ofsted report card, 0.7 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well above | +0.74 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | well below | -0.36 | 2024/25; 61 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 Christ Church First School a good school?
It is about average. Christ Church First School scores 58 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 89% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 29 to 82, 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 Christ Church First School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 13 January 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does Christ Church First School have?
47 pupils aged 2 to 9 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 240 places, so it is 20% full.
Is Christ Church First School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 145 places were empty in 2024/25 (69% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Christ Church First School?
Pupils were in school 92.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 23% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Christ Church First School?
The average class had 11.8 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
- Feltham Lane, Frome, BA11 5AJ
- Telephone
- 01373 463781
- Website
- www.christchurchschoolfrome.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Joe Beament
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-9, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Bath and Wells
- Multi-academy trust
- The Bath and Wells Diocesan Academies Trust (46 schools)
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Ward
- Frome East
- Constituency
- Frome and East Somerset
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 January 2023 (new provision)
- URN
- 149487 · LAESTAB 9332055 · UKPRN 10091658
- Formerly
- Christ Church CofE First School
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.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- 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.