Lakelands Primary School
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Lakelands Primary School is a free school in Colchester for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 340 pupils and room for 420. About 18 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 100 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 100% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2023.
Wagtail Mews, Colchester, CO3 8AJ01206 484033lakelandsprimary.comMrs Koulla Anslow headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 4 May 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
148 places were empty (35% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have grown by 258% since 2021/22.
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 Essex 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 29.2 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 27.2 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (19), language and communications needs (9), Autistic spectrum disorder (4), Physical disability (3), Moderate learning difficulty (2), Vision impairment (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 340 | 269 | 182 | 116 | 76 | 24 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 18% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 13% | 8% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 14% | 15% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 8% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 10% | 8% | 7% | 11% | 8% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 0% |
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 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 5.0% | 5.7% | 5.9% | 9.8% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.1% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 8.1% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.9% | 2.3% | 2.1% | 1.7% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 15.4% | 14.6% | 14.4% | 40.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 3.4 | 2.8 | 0.0 | 1.3 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanway Primary School | Council | 650 m | 390 | Good 2022 | 25 | Compare |
| Stanway Fiveways Primary School | Council | 710 m | 473 | Good 2022 | 30 | Compare |
| St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Colchester | Academy | 0.9 miles | 252 | No overall grade 2025 | 96 | Compare |
| Lexden Primary School with Unit for Hearing Impaired Pupils | Council | 0.9 miles | 236 | Good 2023 | 60 | Compare |
| Home Farm Primary School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 422 | Report card 2026 | 90 | Compare |
| Gosbecks Primary School | Council | 1.5 miles | 227 | Good 2024 | 32 | Compare |
| Prettygate Junior School | Council | 1.5 miles | 250 | Good 2024 | 78 | Compare |
| Prettygate Infant School | Council | 1.5 miles | 172 | Good 2022 | 39 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Lakelands Primary School with the 49 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 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
No school with a similar mix of pupils within 25 km scores clearly higher.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 100 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 100% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 99 to 100. 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 | 19% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | well above | +0.99 | Ofsted grade, 3.4 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well above | +0.77 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | -0.01 | 2024/25; 227 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 Lakelands Primary School a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Lakelands Primary School scores 100 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 100% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 99 to 100, 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 Lakelands Primary School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Lakelands Primary School outstanding at its last full inspection on 4 May 2023.
How many pupils does Lakelands Primary School have?
340 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 420 places, so it is 81% full.
Is Lakelands Primary School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 148 places were empty in 2024/25 (35% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Lakelands Primary School?
Pupils were in school 95.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 15% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Lakelands Primary School?
The average class had 28.3 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 9% 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
- Wagtail Mews, Colchester, CO3 8AJ
- Telephone
- 01206 484033
- Website
- www.lakelandsprimary.com
- Headteacher
- Mrs Koulla Anslow
- Type of school
- Free school (Free schools, free schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- The Chelmsford Learning Partnership (11 schools)
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- Marks Tey and Layer
- Constituency
- Witham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2020 (new provision)
- URN
- 147844 · LAESTAB 8812185 · UKPRN 10086471
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.