The Downs Primary School and Nursery

Harlow · CM20 3RB

General information Primary School · 3-11 years Who goes here 362 pupils, 26.9% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 18.5% on SEN support Behaviour 5.8% absence rate Staff 13% turnover Financials £6,455 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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The Downs Primary School and Nursery

General Information

Address: The Hides, Harlow, CM20 3RB – View on map
Phone: 01279445538
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Headteacher Rob Calderwood
Age range: 3-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 35 families put it first for 39 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 8 · 2024 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

362 pupils out of 420 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 89
% eligible for free school meals: 26.9%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Harlow average)
English as an additional language: 45% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 13% a year (Harlow 18.3%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 33% moved to another school, 67% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 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.

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 Essex: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 28 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 17 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 7 (0.1 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 Essex (the council area this school is in), 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: 5.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 15.0%
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: 18.5%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 30 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 18 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 12 pupils
Hearing impairment: 3 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Physical disability: 2 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

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

No overall grade given 2025 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 52% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 4% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 14 percentage points below the Harlow average (66%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 48% against an expected 58%)
3-year average (expected standard): 48%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 71% · Writing 57% · Maths 59% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 68%
Average test scores: reading 103, maths 102
Based on: 56 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 schoolHarlow averageEngland↗ Improving Up 6 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 14 percentage points below the Harlow average (66%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 25th of 29 junior and primary schools in the area

=23St Luke's Catholic Academy53%
=25Fawbert and Barnard's Primary School52%
=25The Downs Primary School and Nursery52%
#27Cooks Spinney Primary Academy and Nursery38%
#28Water Lane Primary Academy36%

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

#1Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery85%
#2Tany's Dell Primary School and Nursery83%
#3Kingsmoor Academy79%
#4Henry Moore Primary School78%
=5Longwood Primary Academy77%
=5Milwards Primary School and Nursery77%
=7Jerounds Primary Academy76%
=7Latton Green Primary Academy76%
=9Abbotsweld Primary Academy73%
=9Church Langley Community Primary School73%
=9Katherines Primary Academy and Nursery73%
#12Purford Green Primary School72%
#13Potter Street Academy71%
=14Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Harlow67%
=14Newhall Primary Academy67%
=14Pemberley Academy67%
#17Harlowbury Primary School65%
=18Freshwaters Primary Academy62%
=18Pear Tree Mead Academy62%
=20Little Parndon Primary Academy60%
=20William Martin Church of England Junior School60%
#22St Alban's Catholic Academy57%
=23St James Church of England Primary School53%
=23St Luke's Catholic Academy53%
=25Fawbert and Barnard's Primary School52%
=25The Downs Primary School and Nursery52%
#27Cooks Spinney Primary Academy and Nursery38%
#28Water Lane Primary Academy36%
#29Churchgate Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Harlow35%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,455 (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.

12th of 28 primary schools in Harlow for spending per pupil

#10Little Parndon Primary Academy£6,468
#11St James Church of England Primary School£6,456
#12The Downs Primary School and Nursery£6,455
#13Cooks Spinney Primary Academy and Nursery£6,364
#14Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery£6,362

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

#1Potter Street Academy£8,207
#2Milwards Primary School and Nursery£7,606
#3Harlowbury Primary School£7,274
#4Water Lane Primary Academy£7,141
#5Tany's Dell Primary School and Nursery£6,882
#6Kingsmoor Academy£6,808
#7Purford Green Primary School£6,787
#8Churchgate Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Harlow£6,721
#9Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Harlow£6,603
#10Little Parndon Primary Academy£6,468
#11St James Church of England Primary School£6,456
#12The Downs Primary School and Nursery£6,455
#13Cooks Spinney Primary Academy and Nursery£6,364
#14Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery£6,362
#15Fawbert and Barnard's Primary School£6,115
#16Pemberley Academy£6,101
#17Henry Moore Primary School£5,996
#18Church Langley Community Primary School£5,945
#19Newhall Primary Academy£5,840
#20Freshwaters Primary Academy£5,756
#21Pear Tree Mead Academy£5,716
#22St Alban's Catholic Academy£5,629
#23St Luke's Catholic Academy£5,523
#24Jerounds Primary Academy£1,434
#25Katherines Primary Academy and Nursery£1,328
#26Longwood Primary Academy£1,083
#27Latton Green Primary Academy£1,045
#28Abbotsweld Primary Academy£974

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

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