Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery

Shepton Mallet Community Infants’ School & Nursery continues to demonstrate good performance. The school is noted for its caring environment and strong pastoral support, which helps children settle quickly and feel part of a friendly community. The curriculum is engaging and provides a wide range of exciting learning opportunities, preparing children well for their transition to junior school. Leaders are effective in monitoring progress and maintaining close relationships with parents, ensuring overall satisfaction among the school community. At the same time, this is the school's first routine inspection since the pandemic, which provides a significant context for evaluating its current practices.

Strengths

• Strong pastoral support throughout the school
• Exciting curriculum with diverse learning opportunities
• Effective leadership focused on children's needs
• High levels of parental satisfaction reflected in survey responses
• Well-established systems for tracking progress of all pupils

Areas for Improvement

• Occasional lack of immediate adaptation in teaching to address misconceptions
• Some aspects of the wider curriculum lack refined subject content

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 Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.3% 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 Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery 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 Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery had 20.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 19.9% of pupils at Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.6% 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 Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery received £9,391 and spent £10,178 for each of its 165 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £72,000 (-£436 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 Shepton Mallet · Somerset local authority: places and applications

What is Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery is Good, from an inspection in March 2024.

When was Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery was last inspected in March 2024.

How many pupils does Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery have?

Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery has 186 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery cover?

Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery for pupils aged 2 to 7.

Where is Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery?

Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery is at Waterloo Road, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 5HE.