Clyst St Mary Primary School

Clyst St Mary Primary School is a warm, friendly community school where pupils feel safe and are well included, including those with SEND. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision are good, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Pupils benefit from a strong personal development programme, positive relationships, good attendance and a range of responsibilities and activities. However, the quality of education and leadership and management require improvement. The curriculum is ambitious in intent, but teaching does not consistently check pupils' understanding, activities are sometimes not well matched to pupils' needs, and mathematics and phonics are not implemented consistently enough. As a result, some pupils, including the weakest readers and some pupils with SEND or high prior attainment, do not achieve as well as they should. Leadership oversight, including by governors, is not sufficiently detailed to ensure improvement priorities are implemented precisely and consistently. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the school is part of the Three Rivers Federation. The previous inspection grade was good.

Strengths

• Warm, friendly school at the heart of the community
• Staff and pupils have trusting, respectful relationships
• Pupils feel safe and know staff will support them
• Pupils with SEND are fully included in school life
• Personal development is a strength of the school
• Pupils have a strong understanding of fundamental British values
• Pupils take on responsibilities such as buddies and librarians
• Attendance is a priority and pupils attend well
• Pupils generally behave calmly and with focus
• Reading is at the heart of the curriculum
• Early years provides a warm and caring environment
• Staff appreciate leaders' consideration of workload and well-being
• Governors are committed to supporting the school and staff
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not routinely check what pupils know and understand
• Learning activities are sometimes not matched to pupils' knowledge and abilities
• Activities for high prior attainers and some pupils with SEND lack ambition
• Mathematics teaching lacks precision and consistency
• Mathematical misconceptions are not addressed swiftly
• Some pupils move on with gaps in mathematical knowledge
• Phonics is not always delivered effectively across all phases and staff
• Some of the weakest readers do not receive sufficient support
• Leaders and governors lack sufficiently detailed oversight of curriculum impact
• Some improvement priorities have not been implemented precisely or consistently

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Clyst St Mary Primary School attended 96.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.5% of pupils at Clyst St Mary Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Clyst St Mary Primary School had 17.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 1.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 18.8% of pupils at Clyst St Mary Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Clyst St Mary Primary School received £7,760 and spent £7,713 for each of its 170 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £4,000 (-£22 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Exeter · Devon local authority: places and applications

What is Clyst St Mary Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Clyst St Mary Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Clyst St Mary Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Clyst St Mary Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Clyst St Mary Primary School have?

Clyst St Mary Primary School has 170 pupils on roll.

What age range does Clyst St Mary Primary School cover?

Clyst St Mary Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Clyst St Mary Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Clyst St Mary Primary School?

Clyst St Mary Primary School is at Clyst St Mary, The Village, Exeter, Devon, EX5 1BG.