Membury Primary Academy

Membury Primary Academy is a very small, friendly primary school where pupils behave well, get on with each other and are strongly supported by parents. Inspectors found a determined and ambitious school that has improved its curriculum and supports pupils with SEND well, including those who join at different points in the year. Reading is a particular strength: staff know what pupils need to learn, use their subject knowledge well, and help pupils develop a love of books and stories. The school's personal development offer is broad, with clubs, music, community links and opportunities to work with children from other schools. Leadership is effective, staff feel supported, and the trust knows the school well and provides useful support. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school is much smaller than average, with all pupils learning together in one class, and it became part of the First Federation multi academy trust in September 2024 after previously being in the Acorn trust. This was a graded inspection, and no overall effectiveness grade was given. There are two main areas for improvement. In some subjects, the curriculum does not set out precisely what pupils should learn at each stage, so lessons can try to cover too much and slow learning. The school also does not consistently help pupils develop the skills and knowledge to work independently, which means some pupils struggle to complete challenging tasks confidently on their own or in groups.

Strengths

• Pupils behave well and treat staff, visitors and each other with respect.
• Parents and carers are strongly supportive of the school.
• New pupils who join at different points in the year are helped to settle in swiftly.
• Pupils with SEND are supported well.
• Reading is taught effectively, with staff using strong subject knowledge and fostering enjoyment of books.
• Much of the curriculum is structured and sequenced well, with regular practice and revisiting of key knowledge.
• Pupils benefit from a broad personal development offer, including clubs, sports, music and computing.
• The school engages well with the local community and links with other schools to broaden pupils' experience.
• Leaders, including the trust, are determined and the trust supports school improvement effectively.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some areas of the curriculum are not implemented consistently well because important knowledge is not identified precisely enough.
• Lessons in some subjects try to cover too much content, which slows learning for some pupils.
• The school does not consistently help pupils develop the skills and knowledge to work independently.
• Some pupils do not successfully complete challenging tasks on their own or in groups.

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 2018–19 pupils at Membury Primary Academy attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 96.0%). 16.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 8.2%).

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 2019–20, 0.0% of pupils at Membury Primary Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 0.5%). 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 2019–20 Membury Primary Academy had 7.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.9). Of its teachers in 2019–20, 83.3% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 13.7%).

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 2019–20 Membury Primary Academy received £14,300 and spent £7,265 for each of its 20 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £92,000 (£4,616 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of The First Federation Trust, income was £16,792 and spending £15,603 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 Axminster · Devon local authority: places and applications

Membury Primary Academy is part of The First Federation Trust, which runs 29 schools. The nearest others:

• St Andrew's CofE Primary Academy Axminster
• Axminster Community Primary Academy Axminster
• Hawkchurch Church of England School Axminster
• Musbury Primary School Axminster
• Colyton Primary Academy Colyton
• Thorncombe, St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy Thorncombe
• Mrs Ethelston's CofE Primary Academy Lyme Regis
• Marshwood CofE Primary Academy Bridport
• Charmouth Primary School Bridport
• Sidmouth Church of England Primary School Sidmouth

What is Membury Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Membury Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Membury Primary Academy was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Membury Primary Academy have?

Membury Primary Academy has 8 pupils on roll.

What age range does Membury Primary Academy cover?

Membury Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

Where is Membury Primary Academy?

Membury Primary Academy is at Membury, Axminster, Devon, EX13 7AF.