Princefield First School
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Princefield First School is a converter academy in Stafford for boys and girls aged 3 to 9. It has 253 pupils and room for 300. About 12 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 54 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 45% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.
Saxon Road, Penkridge, Stafford, ST19 5EP01785 714050princefield.staffs.sch.ukMiss Rebecca Nixon headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 13 July 2022 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
This inspection is more than 4 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
About 19 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have grown by 3% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
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 Staffordshire 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 21.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 23.0 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (17), emotional and mental health (11), Moderate learning difficulty (6), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 253 | 273 | 261 | 215 | 220 | 219 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 12% | 11% | 7% | 12% | 12% | 10% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 13% | 10% | 17% | 14% | 8% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.2% 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 | 4.8% | 4.7% | 4.7% | 5.4% | 3.3% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.6% | 3.6% | 3.2% | 4.3% | 2.4% | 2.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 0.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 9.7% | 7.1% | 11.1% | 11.8% | 6.7% | 5.4% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 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 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Michael's CofE (A) First School | Church of England | 490 m | 148 | Report card 2026 | 60 | Compare |
| Marshbrook First School | Academy | 650 m | 176 | Good 2022 | 53 | Compare |
| Penkridge Middle School | Academy | 830 m | 509 | Good 2022 | 87 | Compare |
| St Leonard's CofE First School | Academy | 2.6 miles | 75 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Littleton Green Community School | Academy | 2.8 miles | 463 | Not inspected | 63 | Compare |
| All Saints CofE Primary School, Bednall | Academy | 3.0 miles | 42 | Requires improvement 2024 | 3 | Compare |
| St Lukes CofE Primary School | Church of England | 3.5 miles | 419 | Report card 2026 | 79 | Compare |
| Moorhill Primary School | Academy | 3.6 miles | 274 | Good 2021 | 7 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Princefield First 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.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 49 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Princefield First 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holly Grove Primary Academy | Academy | 7.4 miles | 293 | Report card 2026 | 76 | Compare |
| Manor Hill First School | Academy | 12.3 miles | 260 | Good 2023 | 69 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 54 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 54% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 27 to 78. 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 | 17% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.02 | Ofsted grade, 4.2 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.09 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.10 | 2024/25; 196 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 Princefield First School a good school?
It is about average. Princefield First School scores 54 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 45% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 27 to 78, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Princefield First School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Princefield First School good at its last full inspection on 13 July 2022. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.
How many pupils does Princefield First School have?
253 pupils aged 3 to 9 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 300 places, so it is 84% full.
Is Princefield First School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 19 places were empty in 2024/25 (8% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Princefield First School?
Pupils were in school 95.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 10% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Princefield First School?
The average class had 21.9 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
- Saxon Road, Penkridge, Stafford, ST19 5EP
- Telephone
- 01785 714050
- Website
- www.princefield.staffs.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Miss Rebecca Nixon
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-9, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Penk Valley Academy Trust (7 schools)
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Ward
- Penkridge South & Gailey
- Constituency
- Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2018 (academy converter)
- URN
- 145379 · LAESTAB 8602362 · UKPRN 10066640
- Formerly
- Princefield First 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.
- 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.