Downs Barn School
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Downs Barn School is a council school in Milton Keynes for boys and girls aged 2 to 7. It has 96 pupils, 6 more than it has places for. About 27 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. We give it 13 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 18% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.
69 Downs Barns Boulevard, Downs Barn, 69 Downs Barn Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK14 7NA01908 604430boulevardprimarypartnership.org.ukMrs Kate Mathews executive headAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 13 February 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
23 places were empty (30% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 24% 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.
| Entry | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | – all offered | LA |
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: language and communications needs (9), Autistic spectrum disorder (1), Other difficulty or disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 96 | 85 | 89 | 90 | 96 | 98 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 28% | 20% | 10% | 9% | 14% | 15% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 71% | 66% | 54% | 58% | 66% | 69% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 8% | 11% | 2% | 2% | 5% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 0% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.8% 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 | 7.2% | 6.6% | 5.8% | 6.6% | 4.3% | 4.7% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 6.1% | 4.6% | 4.6% | 5.5% | 3.2% | 2.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.1% | 2.0% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 29.6% | 23.8% | 15.6% | 21.8% | 10.7% | 10.5% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
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.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwood School | Foundation | 470 m | 170 | Good 2023 | 68 | Compare |
| St Monica's Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 770 m | 381 | Good 2024 | 34 | Compare |
| Brooksward School | Academy | 910 m | 311 | Good 2023 | 78 | Compare |
| Germander Park School | Foundation | 0.7 miles | 110 | Good 2023 | 7 | Compare |
| Willen Primary School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 278 | Good 2023 | 61 | Compare |
| Shepherdswell Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 108 | Good 2023 | 41 | Compare |
| Orchard Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 294 | Good 2023 | 6 | Compare |
| The Willows School and Early Years Centre | Council | 1.1 miles | 174 | Good 2023 | 15 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Downs Barn School with the 44 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 44 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 44 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Downs Barn 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shepherdswell Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 108 | Good 2023 | 41 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 13 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 13% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 5 to 32. 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% | in line | +0.03 | Ofsted grade, 2.6 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well below | -0.29 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | well below | -0.33 | 2024/25; 44 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 Downs Barn School a good school?
The figures are weak. Downs Barn School scores 13 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 18% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 5 to 32, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Downs Barn School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Downs Barn School good at its last full inspection on 13 February 2024.
How many pupils does Downs Barn School have?
96 pupils aged 2 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 90 places, so it is 107% full.
Is Downs Barn School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 23 places were empty in 2024/25 (30% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Downs Barn School?
Pupils were in school 92.8% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 30% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Downs Barn School?
The average class had 21.3 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
- 69 Downs Barns Boulevard, Downs Barn, 69 Downs Barn Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK14 7NA
- Telephone
- 01908 604430
- Website
- www.boulevardprimarypartnership.org.uk
- Executive Head
- Mrs Kate Mathews
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Milton Keynes
- Ward
- Campbell Park & Old Woughton
- Constituency
- Milton Keynes Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 110372 · LAESTAB 8262313 · UKPRN 10069708
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, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Milton Keynes council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 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.