St John’s Priory is an independent preparatory school for girls and boys aged from two years and three months to eleven years. Situated in the town of Banbury, the school occupies a grade 2 listed building which was once a priory. The school is registered for 160 pupils. Currently there are 84 on roll, including 28 children in the Early Years Foundation Stage of whom 19 are funded under the government’s nursery scheme and 16 attend part time. None of the pupils has a statement of special educational needs. No child is looked after. The majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds with a small proportion of pupils from a diverse range of ethnic minority backgrounds. Two pupils speak English as an additional language. The school states that its aims are ‘to provide academic excellence’. This is the school’s second Ofsted inspection since it was registered and opened in 1990. The last inspection was in 2008. Since the last inspection, there have been several changes in the leadership of the school. More recently, the ownership of the school has changed and the current headmaster commenced his duties in May 2011.