Interactive map shows England's best schools - check if yours is on the list
Parents will find out in just one month if their children will get a place at their first-choice primary school for the term starting in September.
Figures by Ofsted show that one in seven primary schools in England is currently rated as "outstanding" - with just over 100 schools receiving the top rating since the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has also been revealed that many schools have not been inspected in years, some in almost two decades.
The Mirror's latest interactive map shows where the best-rated primary schools are located around the country.
To see if your local school is on the list, you just need to type your postcode and click on 'search'...
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Of nearly 3,700 state primary schools inspected since the pandemic, only 3% - a total of 103 - were awarded the highest possible Ofsted score.
Thirty-one of them were in London, which amounts to one in 10 schools inspected in the capital since May 2021.
In both East Midlands and East of England just three schools - less than 1% of the schools inspected since the pandemic - received the highest rating.
You can see which primary schools near you have been rated outstanding since May 2021 by using this interactive map.
Figures from Ofsted show there are 2,415 state-funded primary schools - or 15% - currently holding the highest possible rating following their last inspection.
There are 2,415 state-funded primary schools - or 15% - currently holding the highest possible rating (Stock photo) (PA)But it has been several years since many of the schools were graded - in some cases up to 17 years ago - mainly because outstanding primary and secondary schools were exempt from routine inspection between 2012 and 2020.
Visits to schools from Ofsted inspectors were then paused for 18 months during the pandemic, but since routine inspections have resumed, Ofsted says it has inspected 370 formerly exempt primary and secondary schools and found that 83% were no longer "outstanding".
Ofsted said it prioritised schools that have gone the longest without inspection, an average of 13 years.
It says very few of these were graded under the latest inspection framework that "raised the bar" for an outstanding classification.
Ofsted said: "As a result, they are not typical of all exempt schools, and the pattern of inspection outcomes may change later.
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"We will therefore continue this programme and will inspect all previously exempt outstanding schools by the end of July 2025."
The outstanding primary schools that have waited the longest for a fresh inspection were awarded the highest status in 2006.
But figures from Ofsted show that the majority of English primary schools are performing well.
Three-quarters of state-funded primary schools are classed as "good" (75%), while around one in 13 schools "require improvement" (8%) and only one in 50 - a total of 390 schools - are currently rated "inadequate" (2%).
Last month, we published an interactive map showing the worst-rated schools in the UK.
Some were said to have shown serious weaknesses and been placed in special measures, according to the Ofsted data showing inspections carried out from May 2021, as the country began to recover from the pandemic.
It comes as a school was accused of using "intimidating" tactics by threatening the visit of police to check up on absent pupils.
Parents of children at Mossley Hollins High School, in Tameside, Greater Manchester, were sent a newsletter with a warning of random days during term time where there could be unannounced home visits "even if your child has only been absent for that day".
"The police will also be supporting the school in carrying out home visits for students who are absent from school," states the letter.
"During each term there will be specific days of action where some of our local police will be joining our attendance team in making home visits."
"I'm positive that parents who are already stressed by their children being off school when they are sick and unable to attend are not being helped by such intimidating harassment tactics," a mum told the Manchester Evening News.
"So the police can't attend incidents for days, but can turn up if your kids are off school??" said a parent on a Facebook community page.
"Well if I had a child at school and they rocked up at my door they soon wish they hadn't," said another. "I can understand visits like when I was young by the truant officer after continuing absence, but a child being off one day, no way."
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