The Willows School and Early Years Centre
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The Willows School and Early Years Centre is a council school in Milton Keynes for boys and girls aged 0 to 7. It has 174 pupils and room for 225. About 40 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 15 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 20% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Fishermead Boulevard, Fishermead, Milton Keynes, MK6 2LP01908 528803thewillowseyc.org.ukMrs Joanna Orbell headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 4 July 2023 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.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
39 places were empty (27% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 15% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
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. Every child who applied got a place.
| Entry | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | – all offered | 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: language and communications needs (37), Autistic spectrum disorder (5), emotional and mental health (3), Physical disability (2), Specific learning difficulty (2), Moderate learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 174 | 188 | 193 | 183 | 166 | 176 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 40% | 25% | 25% | 27% | 31% | 28% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 44% | 38% | 39% | 41% | 43% | 46% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 26% | 23% | 13% | 12% | 13% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 1% | 5% | 6% | 5% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.1% 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 | 5.9% | 6.5% | 6.4% | 5.6% | 2.5% | 5.2% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.5% | 4.7% | 5.2% | 4.4% | 2.1% | 4.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.4% | 1.8% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 1.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 18.0% | 26.2% | 19.6% | 14.3% | 3.4% | 21.5% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 3.7 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard Academy | Academy | 300 m | 294 | Good 2023 | 6 | Compare |
| Jubilee Wood Primary School | Academy | 640 m | 508 | Good 2022 | 53 | Compare |
| Shepherdswell Academy | Academy | 680 m | 108 | Good 2023 | 41 | Compare |
| Falconhurst School | Council | 710 m | 268 | Good 2021 | 31 | Compare |
| Oldbrook First School and Nursery | Council | 0.8 miles | 181 | Good 2023 | 24 | Compare |
| Downs Barn School | Council | 1.1 miles | 96 | Good 2024 | 13 | Compare |
| Southwood School | Foundation | 1.1 miles | 170 | Good 2023 | 68 | Compare |
| Germander Park School | Foundation | 1.1 miles | 110 | Good 2023 | 7 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares The Willows School and Early Years Centre 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.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 15 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 15% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 6 to 35. 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 | 20% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.02 | Ofsted grade, 3.2 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well below | -0.41 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.15 | 2024/25; 78 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 The Willows School and Early Years Centre a good school?
The figures are weak. The Willows School and Early Years Centre scores 15 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 20% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 6 to 35, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is The Willows School and Early Years Centre's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Willows School and Early Years Centre good at its last full inspection on 4 July 2023.
How many pupils does The Willows School and Early Years Centre have?
174 pupils aged 0 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 225 places, so it is 77% full.
Is The Willows School and Early Years Centre oversubscribed?
Probably not. 39 places were empty in 2024/25 (27% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at The Willows School and Early Years Centre?
Pupils were in school 94.1% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 18% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at The Willows School and Early Years Centre?
The average class had 15.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does The Willows School and Early Years Centre have a breakfast club?
Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Fishermead Boulevard, Fishermead, Milton Keynes, MK6 2LP
- Telephone
- 01908 528803
- Website
- www.thewillowseyc.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Joanna Orbell
- Free breakfast club
- Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 0-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Milton Keynes
- Ward
- Woughton & Fishermead
- Constituency
- Milton Keynes Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 110379 · LAESTAB 8262320 · UKPRN 10069707
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: Milton Keynes council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- 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.