Unity Primary Academy

Academy sponsor led·Primary school Colchester, Essex·CO4 3QJ
Composite score
54.8
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#5,546
National rank
#571
In East of England
#162
In Essex
Top 38%
Nationally

Performance (KS2 SATs)

% meeting expected RWM
70%
% achieving higher RWM
8%
Reading average scaled score
105.0
National avg ≈ 105
Maths average scaled score
105.0
National avg ≈ 104
Reading progress
—
Maths progress
—

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Early years provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
31 first choices, 34 places
First choices per place
0.91
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
53
any preference, for 34 places
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.05
00.511.5
1 per place
0.9120221.0020230.9720240.9620250.912026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Unity Primary Academy first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
3–11
Pupils on roll
449
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
50.6%
Typical primary: 21.5%
% EAL
35.2%
Typical primary: 9.6%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
22.3%
Typical primary: 14.3%
% with an EHC plan
1.6%
Typical primary: 3.0%

Attendance

Overall absence
6.6%
Typical primary: 5.3%
Persistently absent
20.0%
Typical primary: 13.3%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
21.5
Typical primary: 20.7
Spend per pupil
£6,573
Typical primary: £6,960

“Typical” = the median primary school in England. What this means

Nearby primary schools

Location

About Unity Primary Academy

Unity Primary Academy is a primary school in Colchester, Essex, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. Around 449 pupils aged 3 to 11 attend the school. 70% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, above the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has risen by 8.0 percentage points year on year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 38% of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 105 in reading and 105 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 8% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Unity Primary Academy their first choice was offered one of its 34 Reception places. Overall pupil absence was 6.6%. There are about 21.5 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 51% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. Unity Primary Academy does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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