School Chooser

Cutthorpe Primary School

Primary · ages 3-11MixedCouncil110 pupilsNurseryChesterfieldDerbyshire
School Chooser Score
20
Below
similar schools
Likely range 7 to 53, so it could be “well below”
Out of 100. Better than 9% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, November 2022
Reached the expected level at 1140%England 63%
Attendance96.8%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families7%Far fewer than most schools
Places10 spare110 pupils, 120 places
Pupils per teacher21.2School workforce census

Cutthorpe Primary School is a council school in Chesterfield for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 110 pupils and room for 120. About 7 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 20 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 9% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.

School Hill, Cutthorpe, Chesterfield, S42 7AS01246 234585cutthorpe.comMr James Dowse headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 2 November 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Outstanding
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

15 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 1140%
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 score104.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score103.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 67%67%20172018: 85%85%20182019: 62%62%20192023: 75%75%20232024: 50%50%20242025: 40%40%2025
Since 2017: -27%Declining overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017DerbyshireEngland
Pupils tested151212131315
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths40%50%75%62%85%67%60%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths0%0%25%15%31%13%8%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score104.0104.0104.0102.0110.0105.0105.2105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score103.0105.0106.0107.0108.0107.0104.2104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score103.0106.0106.0107.0109.0106.0104.6105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard73%58%75%69%85%93%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard80%83%92%92%92%87%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)40%58%75%85%92%80%
Reading progressReading progress score-2.2-4.3+0.7-2.1
Maths progressMaths progress score+0.7+0.2-1.1-0.4

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. Every gap at this school 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
38%43%
Gap 5 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.

Full110 pupils for 84 places, 2024/25
131% full

The school is full, with 26 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. Pupil numbers have grown by 24% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.

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 Derbyshire 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.

Pupils on roll110Census January 2026
Places12092% full
Pupils from low-income families7%7% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English2%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support12%13 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan2%2 pupils with a plan
Average class size27.54 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils50%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)6%£9,300 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls55 / 55
White British pupils91%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 23.5 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 31.5 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Moderate learning difficulty (11), Autistic spectrum disorder (2), language and communications needs (2).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll1101061071048890
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals7%4%6%8%6%4%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language2%2%1%1%0%0%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support11%9%12%9%11%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans2%2%2%5%3%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.8% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance96.8%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school5.2%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.02024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission0.6%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence3.2%4.0%4.0%4.5%2.2%3.2%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence2.6%3.0%3.3%4.2%2.1%2.9%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence0.6%1.0%0.7%0.3%0.1%0.3%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence5.2%4.3%3.4%7.4%3.5%5.4%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.00.00.02.30.0
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

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

Teachers5.2full-time equivalent, 6 people
Pupils per teacher21.2Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants3.2full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£51,662
Teachers who left in the year17%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher20.52024/25

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£7,775England £7,738. Total £824k
Income per pupil£7,567England £7,697. Total £802k
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,429England £3,480
Money in reserve-6%In the red: -£47k, -£440 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£22kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£7,775spent 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 m212 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate40 per 1,000 people56% lower than the England average
Typical house price£242,875North East Derbyshire
Nearest bus stop100 mThe Peacock, 7 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
Barlow CofE Primary SchoolChurch of England1.1 miles86Good 202420Compare
Holme Hall Primary SchoolAcademy1.3 miles124Good 202321Compare
Wigley Primary SchoolCouncil1.8 miles56Report card 202649Compare
Dunston Primary and Nursery AcademyAcademy1.9 miles227No overall grade 20256Compare
Westfield Infant SchoolAcademy1.9 miles150Good 202493Compare
Brockwell Nursery and Infant SchoolCouncil2.0 miles198Good 202249Compare
Brockwell Junior SchoolCouncil2.0 miles245Good 202271Compare
Walton Holymoorside Primary SchoolAcademy2.2 miles379Good 202385Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Cutthorpe Primary 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.

Beats9%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
Near the bottom of its group. Its score of 20 is 35 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 4 · middle 55 · highest 100100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 47 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Cutthorpe Primary 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.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Wessington Primary SchoolCouncil9.9 miles96Good 202299Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 20 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 20% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 7 to 53. 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%in line
-0.07
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 15 pupils
Ofsted inspection18% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old)in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 3.9 years old
Progress pupils make20%below
-0.10
DfE progress measure; 15 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%well below
-0.26
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%well above
+0.12
2024/25; 96 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%below
-0.11
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 15 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 Cutthorpe Primary School a good school?

The figures are weak. Cutthorpe Primary School scores 20 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 9% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 7 to 53, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Cutthorpe Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Cutthorpe Primary School good at its last full inspection on 2 November 2022.

How good are Cutthorpe Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 40% 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 Cutthorpe Primary School have?

110 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 120 places, so it is 92% full.

Is Cutthorpe Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably. The school was full in 2024/25, with 26 more pupils than places. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.

What is attendance like at Cutthorpe Primary School?

Pupils were in school 96.8% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 5% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Cutthorpe Primary School?

The average class had 27.5 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 50% of classes 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
School Hill, Cutthorpe, Chesterfield, S42 7AS
Telephone
01246 234585
Website
www.cutthorpe.com
Headteacher
Mr James Dowse
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Derbyshire
Ward
Brampton & Walton
Constituency
North East Derbyshire
Setting
Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
112513 · LAESTAB 8302050 · UKPRN 10079790

Where these figures come from