Devonshire Primary Academy

Devonshire Primary Academy is a happy and inclusive school where pupils feel safe, valued and supported to do their best. This graded inspection found good provision across all key judgements—quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years—marking improvement from the previous requires improvement grade. Pupils, including those with SEND, access an ambitious curriculum, and many achieve well and are ready for the next stage of their education. Reading and phonics are particular strengths, with effective support for pupils who fall behind. The school has a nurturing environment, strong relationships, effective safeguarding and high expectations for attendance. Pupils behave well, take part in enriching trips and responsibilities, and develop a positive understanding of values and citizenship. Governance and trust oversight are effective, and staff generally feel well supported. Leaders need to address two main areas. Occasionally, the activities staff choose do not help pupils deepen and remember their knowledge as well as they could. In addition, some early years learning is not clearly linked to key stage 1, which means some children are less well prepared for the Year 1 curriculum than they could be.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel valued and are positive about school and their learning
• The school is ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with SEND
• Pupils with SEND access the same ambitious curriculum and receive effective support
• The phonics programme is delivered effectively, with reading books well matched to pupils' sounds
• Pupils who fall behind in phonics are typically supported to catch up quickly
• Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school and are attentive learners
• Children in early years benefit from an engaging, well-designed environment and strong communication and language support
• Pupils enjoy a range of trips, visits and responsibilities that enrich their experience
• Attendance support is effective for pupils who do not attend regularly
• Pupils learn about safety, democracy, differences and respect, contributing to positive citizenship
• Governance and trust oversight are effective, and most staff feel well supported
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Some activities chosen by staff do not help pupils deepen and remember knowledge securely over time
• Early years learning is not consistently linked to key stage 1, so some children are less prepared for Year 1

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 Devonshire Primary Academy attended 93.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.8% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Devonshire Primary Academy 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 Devonshire Primary Academy had 19.3 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, 20.2% of pupils at Devonshire Primary Academy 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 2024–25 Devonshire Primary Academy received £8,480 and spent £8,575 for each of its 436 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £432,000 (£993 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of The Sea View Trust, income was £12,513 and spending £13,236 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Blackpool · Blackpool local authority: places and applications

Devonshire Primary Academy is part of The Sea View Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Park Community Academy Blackpool
• Revoe Learning Academy Blackpool
• Anchorsholme Primary Academy Thornton-Cleveleys
• Applebee Wood School Preston
• Tor View School Rossendale

What is Devonshire Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Devonshire Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Devonshire Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Devonshire Primary Academy was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Devonshire Primary Academy have?

Devonshire Primary Academy has 451 pupils on roll.

What age range does Devonshire Primary Academy cover?

Devonshire Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Devonshire Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Devonshire Primary Academy?

Devonshire Primary Academy is at Devonshire Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY3 8AF.