School Chooser

Muscliff Primary School

Primary · ages 5-11MixedAcademy528 pupilsBournemouthBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
School Chooser Score
76
Above
similar schools
Likely range 61 to 85
Out of 100. Better than 89% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, May 2024
Reached the expected level at 1170%England 63%
Attendance95.3%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families20%A bit fewer than most schools
Places102 spare528 pupils, 630 places
Pupils per teacher22.6School workforce census

Muscliff Primary School is a converter academy in Bournemouth for boys and girls aged 5 to 11. It has 528 pupils and room for 630. About 20 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 76 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 89% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.

Broadway Lane, Throop, Bournemouth, BH8 0AB01202 549654muscliffprimary.co.ukMrs Sarah Fenby headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 21 May 2024, 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”
Good
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

90 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1170%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level13%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score107.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score106.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 58%58%20172018: 77%77%20182019: 73%73%20192023: 69%69%20232024: 73%73%20242025: 70%70%2025
Since 2017: +12%Steady overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017Bournemouth, Christchurch and PooleEngland
Pupils tested909091898760
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths70%73%69%73%77%58%64%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths13%20%12%18%18%5%11%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score107.0107.0107.0106.0106.0101.0105.7105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score106.0108.0106.0106.0106.0103.0104.9104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score109.0108.0108.0111.0109.0106.0105.3105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard84%84%79%79%80%60%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard82%86%81%84%84%72%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)80%80%80%85%79%77%
Reading progressReading progress score+0.6-0.6-0.5-2.6
Maths progressMaths progress score+1.1-0.5-0.3-1.7
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged41%63%50%48%68%45%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged77%76%73%81%80%61%

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. None of the gaps 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 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
41%77%
Gap 36 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
65%75%
Gap 10 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Pupils learning English vs all pupils
83%70%
Gap 13 ptsEngland 4 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
6%13%
Gap 7 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.

A few spare places567 pupils for 630 places, 2024/25
90% full

About 63 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 9% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.

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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 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 roll528Census January 2026
Places63084% full
Pupils from low-income families20%20% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English14%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support14%74 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan5%26 pupils with a plan
Average class size29.318 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils11%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)18%£148,800 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls270 / 258
White British pupils70%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 28.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 30.2 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (38), emotional and mental health (31), Other difficulty or disability (9), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (7), Specific learning difficulty (5), Autistic spectrum disorder (4).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll528560579594623624
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals20%20%20%18%18%17%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language14%12%10%11%9%8%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support15%17%15%15%11%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%3%3%2%2%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.3% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.3%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school9.1%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils7.12024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.1%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence4.7%4.9%5.5%6.5%3.9%4.7%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.6%3.7%4.2%5.1%3.4%3.6%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.1%1.2%1.3%1.5%0.6%1.1%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence9.1%10.7%14.1%14.2%9.6%9.5%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate7.15.94.07.55.3
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

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

Teachers23.4full-time equivalent, 28 people
Pupils per teacher22.6Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants28.4full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£51,036
Teachers who left in the year9%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher1.72024/25

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.

Spend per pupil£6,346England £7,128. Total £3.6m
Income per pupil£6,391England £7,587. Total £3.6m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,973England £3,405
Money in reserve8%Not much put by: £281k, £502 per pupil. England 9%
Money in against money out+£25kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£6,346spent 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 m14712 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate48 per 1,000 people48% lower than the England average
Typical house price£335,000Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Nearest bus stop50 mMuscliffe School, 15 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
The Epiphany SchoolAcademy680 m417Good 202370Compare
Queen's Park Infant AcademyAcademy0.8 miles312Good 202436Compare
St. Walburga's Catholic Primary SchoolRoman Catholic0.8 miles420Good 202099Compare
Queen's Park AcademyAcademy0.9 miles479No overall grade 202585Compare
Jewell Academy BournemouthAcademy1.2 miles324No overall grade 202535Compare
Moordown St John's Church of England Primary SchoolAcademy1.3 miles424Good 202380Compare
Winton Primary SchoolAcademy1.3 miles840Good 202496Compare
St Luke's Church of England Primary SchoolAcademy1.4 miles392Requires improvement 20246Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Muscliff 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.

Beats89%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the top quarter of its group. Its score of 76 is 33 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 12 · middle 43 · highest 93100

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 76 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 76% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 61 to 85. 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%above
+0.13
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 90 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 2.3 years old
Progress pupils make20%in line
+0.06
DfE progress measure; 90 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%in line
+0.01
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%above
+0.05
2024/25; 518 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%above
+0.07
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 90 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 Muscliff Primary School a good school?

Yes, going by the figures. Muscliff Primary School scores 76 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 89% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 61 to 85, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

What is Muscliff Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Muscliff Primary School good at its last full inspection on 21 May 2024.

How good are Muscliff Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 70% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 13% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Muscliff Primary School have?

528 pupils aged 5 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 630 places, so it is 84% full.

Is Muscliff Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 63 places were empty in 2024/25 (10% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Muscliff Primary School?

Pupils were in school 95.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 9% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Muscliff Primary School?

The average class had 29.3 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 11% 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
Broadway Lane, Throop, Bournemouth, BH8 0AB
Telephone
01202 549654
Website
www.muscliffprimary.co.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Sarah Fenby
Type of school
Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
Phase
Primary school, ages 5-11
Gender
Mixed
Single-academy trust
Muscliff Primary School (1 schools)
Local authority
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Ward
Muscliff & Strouden Park
Constituency
Bournemouth East
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 December 2015 (academy converter)
URN
142436 · LAESTAB 8392269 · UKPRN 10054626
Formerly
Muscliff Primary School

Where these figures come from