Orchards Church of England Academy

School overview

Orchards Church of England Academy is a primary school serving Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy with a Church of England religious character. It has 401 pupils aged 2 to 11 on roll. In the most recent Key Stage 2 SATs, 49% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — below the national average of 61%. That marks an improvement of 10.0 percentage points in the proportion reaching the expected standard on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 101 in reading and 102 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). Orchards Church of England Academy was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 47 families who put it first were offered a place. Overall pupil absence was 8.9%. There are about 17.1 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 54% 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. Orchards Church of England 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.