Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery
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Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery is a council school in Colchester for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 156 pupils and room for 180. About 21 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 5 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 5% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
Hawthorn Avenue, Colchester, CO4 3JP01206 861836hazelmere-inf.essex.sch.ukMr Mark Millbourne headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 3 June 2025, 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.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 27 March 2024 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have grown by 5% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
How places were given out for September 2026. The last place was given under this rule: Criterion 4.
| Entry | Places | Applied at all | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | 60 | 63 | – | 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 (28), emotional and mental health (17), Autistic spectrum disorder (4), Physical disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 156 | 171 | 206 | 187 | 192 | 189 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 21% | 30% | 29% | 41% | 43% | 45% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 21% | 22% | 19% | 19% | 13% | 13% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 21% | 17% | 12% | 18% | 11% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 9% | 7% | 4% | 4% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.6% 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 | 6.4% | 6.0% | 7.4% | 8.7% | 4.1% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 5.2% | 4.4% | 5.4% | 7.0% | 2.7% | 3.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.2% | 1.6% | 2.0% | 1.7% | 1.4% | 1.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 19.7% | 15.6% | 25.2% | 31.5% | 13.0% | 10.3% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 3.5 | 4.9 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 1.1 | – | – |
| 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazelmere Junior School | Council | 0 m | 229 | Good 2022 | 12 | Compare |
| Roach Vale Primary School | Council | 290 m | 177 | Good 2023 | 36 | Compare |
| Parsons Heath Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School | Church of England | 500 m | 197 | Good 2023 | 23 | Compare |
| Unity Primary Academy | Academy | 850 m | 432 | No overall grade 2025 | 28 | Compare |
| Willow Brook Primary School and Nursery | Academy | 0.7 miles | 186 | Good 2022 | 17 | Compare |
| Friars Grove Primary School | Council | 0.8 miles | 408 | Good 2023 | 49 | Compare |
| St John's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Colchester | Church of England | 1.1 miles | 210 | Good 2022 | 82 | Compare |
| St James the Great Church of England Primary School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 438 | Good 2019 | 25 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery 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 Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 14.3 miles | 114 | Good 2023 | 43 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 5 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 5% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 2 to 12. 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% | well below | -0.73 | Ofsted grade, 1.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | -0.05 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.18 | 2024/25; 132 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 Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery a good school?
The figures are weak. Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery scores 5 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 5% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 2 to 12, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery not judged at its last full inspection on 3 June 2025.
How many pupils does Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery have?
156 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 180 places, so it is 87% full.
Is Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery oversubscribed?
Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.
What is attendance like at Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery?
Pupils were in school 93.6% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 20% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery?
The average class had 27.0 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Hazelmere Infant School and Nursery 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
- Hawthorn Avenue, Colchester, CO4 3JP
- Telephone
- 01206 861836
- Website
- www.hazelmere-inf.essex.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Mark Millbourne
- 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 4-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- Greenstead
- Constituency
- Colchester
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 114746 · LAESTAB 8812058 · UKPRN 10076445
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: Essex council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- 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.