Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple

Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple, is a welcoming and caring school where pupils are happy, safe and behave well. Inspectors judged the school good across all inspected areas during this graded inspection, which was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. The school is part of Plymouth Cast multi-academy trust and runs its own nursery for two- to four-year-olds. Pupils benefit from high expectations, strong reading teaching, effective support for pupils with SEND and a broad, ambitious curriculum that is well sequenced. Early years provision is effective in building positive attitudes and communication skills, and attendance has improved through robust tracking and support for families. Leaders, governors and the trust provide effective support and challenge, and staff are proud to work at the school. There are two main areas for improvement. The school offers limited experiences beyond the local community, so pupils do not develop as deep an understanding of life in wider modern Britain as they could. In addition, assessment in the wider curriculum is very recent and not yet consistently effective; in a few subjects, checks on pupils’ understanding do not close gaps in knowledge, so pupils do not learn as well as they could. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Welcoming, caring school where pupils are happy, safe and polite
• Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning
• High expectations for pupils’ academic achievement
• Strong and consistent teaching of reading from the start of school
• Pupils with SEND are well supported to learn alongside their peers
• Broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum
• Wider curriculum implemented effectively in most subjects
• Early years provision builds warm relationships and strong communication skills
• Pupils take on responsible roles such as mini chaplains
• Attendance has improved through robust tracking and support for families
• Staff feel supported, and governors and the trust provide effective support and challenge
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Limited range of experiences and opportunities beyond the local community
• Pupils are not as fully prepared for life in modern Britain as they could be
• Assessment in the wider curriculum is very recent and not yet having enough impact
• In a few subjects, checks on pupils’ understanding are not effective, leaving gaps in 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 Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.4% 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, 1.8% of pupils at Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple 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 Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple had 22.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.6% 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, 17.8% of pupils at Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 2024–25 Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple received £7,293 and spent £7,686 for each of its 223 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £275,000 (£1,234 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 Barnstaple · Devon local authority: places and applications

Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple is part of Plymouth Cast, which runs 34 schools. The nearest others:

• St John's Catholic Primary School Tiverton
• St Nicholas Catholic Primary School Exeter
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Newton Abbot
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Buckfast Buckfastleigh
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth Exmouth
• Our Lady and St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School Teignmouth
• Notre Dame RC School Plymouth
• St Peter's RC Primary School Plymouth
• St Boniface's RC College Plymouth
• Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary School Torquay

What is Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple last inspected by Ofsted?

Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple have?

Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple has 214 pupils on roll.

What age range does Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple cover?

Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple?

Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple is at Chanters Hill, Barnstaple, Devon, EX32 8DN.