UET Pathfinder Academy
UET Pathfinder Academy is an academy alternative provision converter in Norwich for boys and girls aged 5 to 16. It has 284 pupils and room for 350. About 72 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was requires improvement, back in 2024.
Douglas Bader School, Filby Road, Badersfield, Norwich, NR10 5JW01603 737764pathfinderschools.ukMr Matt Ridley executive headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 2 July 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Requires improvement overall.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
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 Norfolk council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (180), language and communications needs (13), Autistic spectrum disorder (11), Moderate learning difficulty (4), Other difficulty or disability (3), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 284 | 335 | 362 | 315 | 290 | 330 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 72% | 68% | 63% | 63% | 61% | 60% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 8% | 6% | 8% | 4% | 5% | 5% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 30% | 31% | 38% | 37% | 40% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 40% | 40% | 43% | 49% | 53% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 64 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 59%, compared with 60% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 59% | 47% | 40% |
| Education | 55% | 35% | 29% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 3% | 12% | 10% |
| Not in education, work or training | 20% | 30% | 31% |
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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buxton Primary School | Foundation | 1.5 miles | 192 | Not inspected | 29 | Compare |
| Swanton Abbott Community Primary School | Council | 1.9 miles | 57 | Good 2023 | 44 | Compare |
| Coltishall Primary School | Council | 2.1 miles | 213 | No overall grade 2024 | 62 | Compare |
| Tunstead Primary School | Council | 2.6 miles | 67 | No overall grade 2025 | 35 | Compare |
| Hainford VC Primary School | Church of England | 3.3 miles | 72 | Report card 2026 | 76 | Compare |
| Worstead Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 3.5 miles | 106 | Good 2021 | 57 | Compare |
| Frettenham Primary School | Council | 3.6 miles | 60 | Good 2024 | 63 | Compare |
| Hevingham Primary School | Foundation | 4.1 miles | 101 | Good 2024 | 50 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is UET Pathfinder Academy a good school?
UET Pathfinder Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it requires improvement at its last inspection in July 2024.
What is UET Pathfinder Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated UET Pathfinder Academy requires improvement at its last full inspection on 2 July 2024.
How many pupils does UET Pathfinder Academy have?
284 pupils aged 5 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 350 places, so it is 81% full.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Douglas Bader School, Filby Road, Badersfield, Norwich, NR10 5JW
- Telephone
- 01603 737764
- Website
- www.pathfinderschools.uk
- Executive Headteacher
- Mr Matt Ridley
- Type of school
- Academy alternative provision converter (Academy alternative provision converter, academies)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 5-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Unity Education Trust (15 schools)
- Local authority
- Norfolk
- Ward
- Buxton
- Constituency
- Broadland and Fakenham
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2014 (academy converter)
- URN
- 140753 · LAESTAB 9261111 · UKPRN 10045661
- Formerly
- Short Stay School for Norfolk
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.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- 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.