A primary school in Bow, east London, has been rated “exceptional” in six areas by Ofsted, placing it among the highest-performing schools in the country under the inspectorate's renewed framework.

Clara Grant Primary School, on Knapp Road in Bow, received the top judgement for achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards were also found to be met. The report followed a full inspection on 7 July 2026.

What exceptional means

Ofsted defines exceptional practice as being of the highest standard nationally, and says other schools can learn from it. Under the renewed inspection framework introduced in November 2025, schools are judged in six areas on a five-point scale, from exceptional down through strong, expected, needs attention and urgent improvement. There is no longer an overall effectiveness grade for state-funded schools.

The inspectors found that pupils at Clara Grant, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and disabilities, make excellent progress in learning the curriculum. They also found that pupils' performance in national tests and assessments is consistently significantly above national averages.

A school in a diverse community

Clara Grant is a larger-than-average primary school for children aged three to 11, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of the Boleyn Trust, which Ofsted names as the Boleyn Academy Trust. Many of its pupils come from Bangladeshi backgrounds, and a much higher than average proportion do not speak English as their first language. A little less than three quarters of pupils are supported by the pupil premium, the extra funding for disadvantaged children.

The school's previous short inspection, in March 2022, judged it Good. The new report therefore marks a step up, with inspectors awarding the highest available grade across every one of the six judgement areas they assessed.

Why the result matters

The result comes at a time of intense debate about Ofsted's new framework. A survey by the school leaders' union NAHT, published this week to mark the framework's first anniversary, found that 52% of school leaders who had been inspected under it were considering leaving their posts sooner than planned, and 86% said inspection had affected their mental health while inspectors were on site. The union has called for graded inspections to be halted while the system is rethought.

Against that background, a clean sweep of exceptional judgements is rare, and it puts the spotlight on what the school has done differently. The inspection report credits leaders with ensuring that all pupils make excellent progress, and praises the curriculum, the early years provision and the school's inclusive approach. Ofsted's own data, published this week on the first year of the new report cards, showed that schools with more disadvantaged intakes were more likely to be downgraded for achievement and for attendance and behaviour, making Clara Grant's result in a high-disadvantage community all the more notable.

What happens next

The school will continue under its current leadership and trust, with the report now published for parents and the wider community to read. For other schools, the report offers a detailed account of practice that Ofsted itself describes as worth learning from. The East London Advertiser's report announced the result, and the full Ofsted inspection report sets out the judgements in detail.