the school's most recent inspection by ofsted, the inspection and regulation body for schools in england, took place in july 2014. the subsequent report assessed the school as 'outstanding'. at the start of the 2014/15 school year, the school held a special activity afternoon, with a bouncy castle and ice lollies, so that its pupils could celebrate the achievement. headteacher jane sherwood said: "we are particularly pleased to achieve an outstanding grade in all areas – this is particularly difficult under the current inspection framework. […] the activity afternoon is our way of saying thank you and well done to the children who work hard and always try their best, behave so well and are rightly proud to belong to our school." icknield walk's previous full ofsted inspection in 2009 had concluded that overall, "this is a good and improving school. pupils progress well and often attain standards that are above average in english, mathematics and science by the time they leave the school". a subsequent interim assessment in 2012 concluded, "the school's performance has been sustained and that we can defer its next full inspection".