Appledore School

Appledore School is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across all areas of inspection. Pupils are happy, engaged, and enjoy their learning experiences, starting from the early years where curiosity is encouraged. The school demonstrates a strong commitment to personal development and offers a broad curriculum that helps prepare pupils for their next stages. There are effective systems in place for assessing student progress, and pupils express appreciation for the support they receive from staff.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and enjoy coming to school.
• High expectations are set for all pupils by leaders and staff.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with a well-sequenced approach.
• Teachers effectively use various strategies to help pupils learn.
• Leaders prioritize the development of reading skills among pupils.
• Pupils show positive attitudes and exhibit good behavior.
• Strong personal development programs help build responsible citizens.
• Staff feel supported in their well-being and workload.

Areas for Improvement

• Some subjects lack depth in checking curriculum implementation.
• Identification of some pupils' SEND needs is not timely.
• Learning targets for some SEND pupils lack precision.

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 Appledore School attended 95.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Appledore 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 Appledore School had 22.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.8% 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, 13.1% of pupils at Appledore School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.8% 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 Appledore School received £6,667 and spent £6,531 for each of its 229 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £179,000 (£781 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 Bideford · Devon local authority: places and applications

Appledore School is part of Atlantic Coast Co-Operative Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Instow Community Primary and Pre-School Bideford
• Buckland Brewer Primary School Bideford
• Parkham Primary School Bideford
• Woolsery Primary School Bideford
• Hartland Primary School Bideford

What is Appledore School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Appledore School is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was Appledore School last inspected by Ofsted?

Appledore School was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does Appledore School have?

Appledore School has 244 pupils on roll.

What age range does Appledore School cover?

Appledore School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Appledore School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 79% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Appledore School?

Appledore School is at Richmond Road, Appledore, Bideford, Devon, EX39 1PF.