Pewley Down Infant School
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Pewley Down Infant School is a Church of England school (voluntary aided) in Guildford for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 180 pupils and every place is taken. About 10 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 96 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 91% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2024.
Semaphore Road, Guildford, GU1 3PT01483 570038htpd.surrey.sch.ukMiss Vicky Ellis headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 9 July 2024, 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. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
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 stayed about the same since 2021/22.
The last child to get a place lived 5.8 miles away in 2026, 0.9 miles away in 2025, 0.7 miles away in 2024. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils, faith and other priority groups are placed first. After that, the closer you live, the better your chances. Type in your postcode to see how far away you are.
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. More children applied than there were places. The last place went to a child living 5.8 miles from the school. Living closer than that didn't guarantee a place, but living much further away meant missing out that year.
| Entry | Places | Got a place | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | 60 | 60 | 5.8 miles | LA |
| 2025 Primary | 60 | 60 | 0.9 miles | LA |
| 2024 Primary | 60 | 60 | 0.7 miles | LA |
The distances are the council's own, usually measured in a straight line from home to the school gate. If the distance is getting shorter each year, the school is getting harder to get into. See which councils we have this data for.
What a home within 0.8 miles of the school costs
Every home sold within that distance of the school (the typical cut-off over the last three years), of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
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 (8), emotional and mental health (4), Specific learning difficulty (4), Autistic spectrum disorder (2), Other difficulty or disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 180 | 178 | 180 | 180 | 181 | 179 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 10% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 4% | 7% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 17% | 17% | 19% | 21% | 19% | 17% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 7% | 8% | 6% | 4% | 7% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.9% 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 | 4.1% | 4.3% | 4.9% | 4.8% | 1.7% | 3.1% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.4% | 3.6% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 1.0% | 2.3% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 8.1% | 8.1% | 9.0% | 11.2% | 0.0% | 5.7% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.9 | 0.6 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Trinity, Guildford, CofE Aided Junior School | Church of England | 610 m | 368 | Good 2024 | 88 | Compare |
| Sandfield Primary School | Academy | 750 m | 209 | Good 2022 | 89 | Compare |
| St Nicolas' Church of England Infant School | Academy | 0.6 miles | 81 | No overall grade 2025 | – | Compare |
| St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 436 | Good 2024 | 85 | Compare |
| Boxgrove Primary School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 646 | No overall grade 2025 | 87 | Compare |
| Shalford Infant School | Academy | 1.3 miles | 90 | Good 2023 | 65 | Compare |
| Queen Eleanor's Church of England School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 323 | Good 2023 | 61 | Compare |
| Weyfield Primary Academy | Academy | 1.4 miles | 157 | Good 2023 | 48 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Pewley Down Infant School with the 46 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 46 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 96 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 96% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 89 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 | +1.01 | Ofsted grade, 2.2 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.20 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.17 | 2024/25; 123 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 Pewley Down Infant School a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Pewley Down Infant School scores 96 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 91% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 89 to 99, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Pewley Down Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Pewley Down Infant School outstanding at its last full inspection on 9 July 2024.
How many pupils does Pewley Down Infant School have?
180 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 180 places, so it is 100% full.
Is Pewley Down Infant School oversubscribed, and how far away can you live?
Yes. For September 2026 the last place went to a child living 5.8 miles away. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups come before distance, so the cut-off moves every year.
What is attendance like at Pewley Down Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.9% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 8% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Pewley Down Infant School?
The average class had 30.0 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
- Semaphore Road, Guildford, GU1 3PT
- Telephone
- 01483 570038
- Website
- www.htpd.surrey.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Miss Vicky Ellis
- Type of school
- Church of England school (voluntary aided) (Voluntary aided school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Guildford
- Local authority
- Surrey
- Ward
- Castle
- Constituency
- Guildford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 July 2011 (change religious character)
- URN
- 136755 · LAESTAB 9362001 · UKPRN 10080727
- Formerly
- Pewley Down 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.
- Admissions outcomes: Surrey council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2024, 2025, 2026.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- 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.