Ottery St Mary Primary School

Ottery St Mary Primary School continues to perform well, maintaining its status as a good school. The environment is described as welcoming and vibrant, with strong relationships among pupils, staff, and parents. The leadership team is dedicated to understanding and addressing the needs of all students, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. There is a strong focus on academic achievement, alongside a range of extracurricular opportunities that foster student confidence and community involvement. Despite the overall positive performance, there are areas for improvement. While the school has effectively identified key knowledge for students to learn, there are concerns regarding the use of assessment in some subjects. This has led to gaps in knowledge for some pupils, which can hinder their ability to retain learning over time. The school is committed to addressing these issues to enhance educational outcomes further.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and cared for by staff.
• Strong emphasis on reading and phonics that supports struggling readers.
• Wide range of extracurricular activities that build confidence.
• High expectations set by leaders help pupils to strive for their goals.
• Effective safeguarding measures in place.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent use of assessment by teachers leads to gaps in pupils' knowledge.

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 Ottery St Mary Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.9% 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 Ottery 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 Ottery St Mary Primary School had 22.9 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, 17.5% of pupils at Ottery St Mary Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 Ottery St Mary Primary School received £6,139 and spent £6,094 for each of its 424 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £211,000 (£498 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 East Devon · Devon local authority: places and applications

Ottery St Mary Primary School is part of Smile Learning Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• West Hill Primary School Ottery St Mary

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

The latest Ofsted rating for Ottery St Mary Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2023.

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

Ottery St Mary Primary School was last inspected in March 2023.

How many pupils does Ottery St Mary Primary School have?

Ottery St Mary Primary School has 424 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ottery St Mary Primary School cover?

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

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

In 2025, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ottery St Mary Primary School?

Ottery St Mary Primary School is at Longdogs Lane, Ottery St Mary, Devon, EX11 1HY.