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Ardleigh St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy

Primary school in Colchester, Essex. Requires improvement (Oct 2022).

Latest graded inspection

Inspected 4 October 2022, report published 21 November 2022, under the inspection system used from 2019 to 2025.

This grade was given to St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Ardleigh (its Ofsted page), the school this one replaced when it became an academy. Ardleigh St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy hasn’t been inspected under its own name yet, so Ofsted’s page for it shows no grade.

Requires improvement overall. Not yet good. Schools with this grade were normally inspected again within 30 months. 11% of schools whose latest graded inspection was under this system got Requires improvement.

Grades for each area
AreaGrade
Quality of educationRequires improvement
Behaviour and attitudesGood
Personal developmentGood
Leadership and managementRequires improvement
Early yearsGood
Safeguarding effectiveYes

These grades come from the system Ofsted replaced in November 2025. They stay on record until the school’s next inspection, when it gets a report card instead. More about the old grades.

Next inspection: around April 2025

The last inspection was in October 2022. Schools graded requires improvement were normally inspected again within 30 months. It’s now later than the usual gap, so an inspection could happen at any time.

An estimate, not an Ofsted date. Ofsted doesn’t publish its schedule and gives schools about a day’s notice. The law says the next inspection must be by August 2028 at the latest, and Ofsted can visit sooner if it has concerns.

Nearby primary schools

  1. 2.1 milesDedham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

    Primary, Colchester, Essex

    Good (Jun 2024)

  2. 2.1 milesLangham Primary Academy

    Primary, Colchester, Essex

    Good (Nov 2023)

  3. 2.5 milesSt John's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Colchester

    Primary, Colchester, Essex

    School remains Good (Oct 2022)

  4. 2.6 milesRoach Vale Primary School

    Primary, Colchester, Essex

    Good (May 2023)

  5. 2.6 milesParsons Heath Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

    Primary, Colchester, Essex

    School remains Good (Sep 2023)

Ofsted data as at 30 September 2026, school details from Get Information about Schools, 26 October 2026.