Merrydale Junior School

Leicester · LE5 0PL

General information Junior School · 7-11 years Who goes here 354 pupils, 31.6% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 14.7% on SEN support Behaviour 5.6% absence rate Staff 9.1% turnover Financials £5,983 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Merrydale Junior School

General Information

Address: Claydon Road, Leicester, LE5 0PL – View on map
Phone: 01162767708
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Antony Corbett
Age range: 7-11 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

354 pupils out of 360 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 112
% eligible for free school meals: 31.6%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (less mixed than the Leicester average)
English as an additional language: 80% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 9.1% a year (Leicester 13.4%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 0% moved to another school, 100% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 2 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Leicester: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 12 (0.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Leicester, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 5.6%
Persistently absent pupils: 16.6%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 14.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.1%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 21 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 11 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 6 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 4 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2019 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 67% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 2% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 6 percentage points above the Leicester average (61%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 56% against an expected 65%)
3-year average (expected standard): 56%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 74% · Writing 71% · Maths 71% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 79%
Average test scores: reading 104, maths 105
Based on: 87 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolLeicester averageEngland↗ Improving Up 17 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 6 percentage points above the Leicester average (61%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 20th of 72 junior and primary schools in the area

=20Folville Junior School67%
=20Hope Hamilton CofE Primary School67%
=20Merrydale Junior School67%
=20Slater Primary School67%
=25Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy66%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy88%
#2Queensmead Primary Academy87%
#3Parks Primary School85%
#4Caldecote Community Primary School82%
#5Humberstone Junior School81%
=6Beaumont Lodge Primary School79%
=6Kestrel Mead Primary Academy79%
#8Evington Valley Primary School77%
#9Rowlatts Mead Primary Academy76%
=10Braunstone Community Primary School75%
=10Linden Primary School75%
=12Krishna Avanti Primary School73%
=12Willowbrook Mead Primary Academy73%
#14Uplands Junior L.E.A.D. Academy72%
#15Whitehall Primary School71%
#16Abbey Mead Primary Academy70%
=17North Mead Primary Academy69%
=17Spinney Hill Primary School69%
#19Sparkenhoe Community Primary School68%
=20Charnwood Primary School67%
=20Folville Junior School67%
=20Hope Hamilton CofE Primary School67%
=20Merrydale Junior School67%
=20Slater Primary School67%
=25Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy66%
=25St Barnabas CofE Primary School66%
=27Hazel Community Primary School65%
=27Highfields Primary School65%
=27Wyvern Primary School65%
=30Medway Community Primary School64%
=30Sandfield Close Primary School64%
=30Stokes Wood Primary School64%
=33Dovelands Primary School63%
=33Falcons Primary School63%
=33Knighton Mead Primary Academy63%
=36Overdale Junior School62%
=36St Mary's Fields Academy62%
=38Avenue Primary School61%
=38Shenton Primary School61%
=38St John the Baptist CofE Primary School61%
#41Mayflower Primary School60%
=42Coleman Primary School59%
=42Mellor Community Primary School59%
=44Fosse Mead Primary Academy58%
=44Herrick Primary School58%
=44Shaftesbury Junior School58%
=44Tudor Grange Samworth Academy, A church of England School58%
=48Heatherbrook Primary Academy56%
=48Inglehurst Junior School56%
=48Montrose School56%
=51Alderman Richard Hallam Primary School55%
=51Forest Lodge Academy55%
#53Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy54%
=54Mowmacre Hill Primary School53%
=54St Joseph's Catholic Academy53%
#56Woodstock Primary Academy52%
=57Braunstone Frith Primary Academy51%
=57Wolsey House Primary School51%
#59Barley Croft Primary School49%
#60Glebelands Primary School48%
#61Granby Primary School47%
#62Rushey Mead Primary School46%
=63Belgrave St Peter's CofE Primary School45%
=63Holy Cross Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy45%
=65Bridge Junior School43%
=65Catherine Junior School43%
=65Saint Patrick's Catholic Voluntary Academy43%
=65Thurnby Mead Primary Academy43%
#69Rolleston Primary School42%
#70Scraptoft Valley Primary School37%
=71Eyres Monsell Primary School34%
=71Marriott Primary School34%

View full Ofsted inspection report

5th of 9 junior schools in Leicester for Ofsted rating

#3Folville Junior SchoolGood
#4Inglehurst Junior SchoolGood
#5Merrydale Junior SchoolGood
#6Overdale Junior SchoolGood
#7Shaftesbury Junior SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Humberstone Junior SchoolOutstanding
#2Catherine Junior SchoolGood
#3Folville Junior SchoolGood
#4Inglehurst Junior SchoolGood
#5Merrydale Junior SchoolGood
#6Overdale Junior SchoolGood
#7Shaftesbury Junior SchoolGood
#8Uplands Junior L.E.A.D. AcademyGood
#9Bridge Junior SchoolRequires improvement

Financials

Spending per pupil: £5,983 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

6th of 9 junior schools in Leicester for spending per pupil

#4Catherine Junior School£6,213
#5Bridge Junior School£6,080
#6Merrydale Junior School£5,983
#7Humberstone Junior School£5,563
#8Overdale Junior School£5,440

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Inglehurst Junior School£8,047
#2Shaftesbury Junior School£7,016
#3Folville Junior School£6,518
#4Catherine Junior School£6,213
#5Bridge Junior School£6,080
#6Merrydale Junior School£5,983
#7Humberstone Junior School£5,563
#8Overdale Junior School£5,440
#9Uplands Junior L.E.A.D. Academy£5,372

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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