Hilltop Infant School
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Hilltop Infant School is a converter academy in Wickford for boys and girls aged 2 to 7. It has 237 pupils and room for 249. About 9 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 97 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 90% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2024, no overall grade.
Hill Avenue, Wickford, SS11 8LT01268 762531hearts-hilltopinf.ukMrs Janine Travi headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 12 November 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.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
49 places were empty (22% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 19% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
How places were given out for September 2026. The last place was given under this rule: Criterion 7.
| Entry | Places | Applied at all | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | 75 | 141 | – | LA |
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 260 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for primary schools with enough answers to publish.
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 (7), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (2), Specific learning difficulty (2), Hearing impairment (1), Moderate learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 237 | 210 | 211 | 219 | 244 | 254 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 9% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 7% | 8% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 3% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 13% | 8% | 3% | 7% | 10% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 1% | 2% | 0% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.0% 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 | 5.0% | 4.8% | 4.4% | 5.1% | 4.6% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.3% | 3.4% | 2.8% | 4.2% | 2.6% | 3.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.8% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 0.9% | 2.0% | 0.9% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 7.0% | 9.8% | 9.4% | 9.9% | 8.0% | 10.7% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | – | – |
| 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 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilltop Junior School | Academy | 130 m | 352 | Good 2022 | 73 | Compare |
| The Wickford Church of England School | Academy | 620 m | 135 | Outstanding 2023 | 97 | Compare |
| Runwell Community Primary School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 362 | No overall grade 2024 | 20 | Compare |
| North Crescent Primary School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 216 | Good 2024 | 31 | Compare |
| Wickford Primary School | Council | 1.0 miles | 472 | Good 2023 | 25 | Compare |
| Abacus Primary School | Council | 1.0 miles | 413 | Good 2023 | 71 | Compare |
| Oakfield Primary School | Council | 1.1 miles | 391 | Good 2024 | 49 | Compare |
| St Luke's Park Primary School | Free school | 1.3 miles | 176 | No overall grade 2025 | 27 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Hilltop Infant School with the 48 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 48 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 97 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 97% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 92 to 99. 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 above | +0.82 | Ofsted grade, 1.8 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | +0.02 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.12 | 2024/25; 115 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 5% | well above | +0.12 | Ofsted's Parent View survey, allowing for how many parents replied; 260 responses |
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 Hilltop Infant School a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Hilltop Infant School scores 97 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 90% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 92 to 99, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Hilltop Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Hilltop Infant School not judged at its last full inspection on 12 November 2024.
How many pupils does Hilltop Infant School have?
237 pupils aged 2 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 249 places, so it is 95% full.
Is Hilltop Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 49 places were empty in 2024/25 (22% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Hilltop Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 7% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about Hilltop Infant School?
97% of the 260 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 98% say their child is happy there. Across England, 87% of parents would recommend their child's school.
How big are the classes at Hilltop Infant School?
The average class had 28.1 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 13% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Hilltop Infant 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
- Hill Avenue, Wickford, SS11 8LT
- Telephone
- 01268 762531
- Website
- www.hearts-hilltopinf.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Janine Travi
- 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
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- HEARTS Academy Trust (6 schools)
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- Wickford North
- Constituency
- Rayleigh and Wickford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2017 (academy converter)
- URN
- 144834 · LAESTAB 8812548 · UKPRN 10064857
- Formerly
- Hilltop Infant 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.
- 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.