Prettygate Infant School
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Prettygate Infant School is a council school in Colchester for boys and girls aged 5 to 7. It has 172 pupils and room for 180. About 13 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 39 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 36% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.
Plume Avenue, Colchester, CO3 4PH01206 577608prettygateschools.co.ukMr Mark Millbourne headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 18 October 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2 October 2019 | 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 14% 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 | 151 | – | 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: emotional and mental health (15), language and communications needs (14), Moderate learning difficulty (3), Physical disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 172 | 177 | 160 | 147 | 156 | 180 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 14% | 13% | 14% | 12% | 10% | 8% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 11% | 14% | 18% | 14% | 14% | 12% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 14% | 9% | 12% | 13% | 12% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.7% 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 | 5.3% | 5.6% | 6.8% | 8.0% | 2.2% | 3.7% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.6% | 4.6% | 6.2% | 7.7% | 1.9% | 3.3% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.7% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 12.1% | 16.7% | 16.5% | 27.6% | 3.3% | 4.1% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 1.1 | 8.1 | 4.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prettygate Junior School | Council | 0 m | 250 | Good 2024 | 78 | Compare |
| Gosbecks Primary School | Council | 730 m | 227 | Good 2024 | 32 | Compare |
| Kings Ford Academy | Academy | 960 m | 152 | No overall grade 2025 | 10 | Compare |
| King's Ford Infant School and Nursery | Council | 960 m | 154 | No overall grade 2024 | 37 | Compare |
| St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Colchester | Academy | 0.7 miles | 252 | No overall grade 2025 | 96 | Compare |
| Home Farm Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 422 | Report card 2026 | 90 | Compare |
| Hamilton Primary School | Council | 0.9 miles | 420 | No overall grade 2025 | 77 | Compare |
| Lexden Primary School with Unit for Hearing Impaired Pupils | Council | 1.0 miles | 236 | Good 2023 | 60 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Prettygate Infant School with the 45 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 45 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 45 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Prettygate Infant School, 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 Francis Catholic Primary School, Maldon | Roman Catholic | 13.1 miles | 196 | Good 2024 | 62 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 39 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 39% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 17 to 67. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. 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 | 18% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.02 | Ofsted grade, 3.9 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.18 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | +0.02 | 2024/25; 124 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 Prettygate Infant School a good school?
It is about average. Prettygate Infant School scores 39 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 36% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 17 to 67, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Prettygate Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Prettygate Infant School good at its last full inspection on 18 October 2022.
How many pupils does Prettygate Infant School have?
172 pupils aged 5 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 180 places, so it is 96% full.
Is Prettygate Infant School oversubscribed?
Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.
What is attendance like at Prettygate Infant School?
Pupils were in school 94.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 12% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Prettygate Infant School?
The average class had 29.3 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
- Plume Avenue, Colchester, CO3 4PH
- Telephone
- 01206 577608
- Website
- www.prettygateschools.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Mark Millbourne
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 5-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- Prettygate
- Constituency
- Colchester
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 114744 · LAESTAB 8812056 · UKPRN 10069680
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.
- 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.