St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School

St Paul’s Roman Catholic Primary School remains a good school, with a strong emphasis on fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for pupils. The school has successfully navigated challenges since the last inspection, demonstrating resilience particularly in addressing the needs of pupils with additional requirements, including those with SEND. Positive relationships among pupils and staff contribute to a harmonious atmosphere where pupils feel safe and valued. The effective curriculum supports academic success, especially in reading and mathematics, although further development is needed in some subjects to ensure a comprehensive educational experience for all students.

Strengths

• Pupils and staff share a strong belief in the school's values.
• There is a positive and trusting relationship between pupils and staff.
• The curriculum is ambitious and mostly well sequenced.
• The phonics programme is implemented rigorously.
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported well.
• Leaders have high expectations for pupil happiness and achievement.

Areas for Improvement

• Some subjects, like design and technology and computing, require further development.
• Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for SEND pupils do not consistently align with targeted support for reading.

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 St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.9% 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, 4.2% of pupils at St Paul's Roman Catholic 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 St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School had 17.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.6% 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, 27.2% of pupils at St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 9.6% 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 2024–25 St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School received £8,826 and spent £9,215 for each of its 145 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £422,000 (£2,909 per pupil).

Across all 34 schools of Plymouth Cast, income was £8,158 and spending £8,000 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 Plymouth · Plymouth local authority: places and applications

St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School is part of Plymouth Cast, which runs 34 schools. The nearest others:

• Keyham Barton Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Peter's RC Primary School Plymouth
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Boniface's RC College Plymouth
• The Cathedral School of St Mary Plymouth
• Notre Dame RC School Plymouth
• Holy Cross Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Buckfast Buckfastleigh
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Bodmin Bodmin
• St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Primary School, Dartmouth Dartmouth

What is St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2022.

When was St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School was last inspected in September 2022.

How many pupils does St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School have?

St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School has 136 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School cover?

St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School?

St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School is at Pemros Road, St Budeaux, Plymouth, Devon, PL5 1NE.