Bishops Lydeard Church School

Bishops Lydeard Church School demonstrates a good overall performance across various domains since its previous inspection which labeled it as requiring improvement. The school fosters a positive atmosphere where pupils feel safe, respected, and actively encouraged to express their thoughts and opinions. The quality of education is robust, with a well-organized curriculum that effectively supports early years learning and reading development. However, there are some inconsistencies in curriculum implementation for certain foundation subjects, which needs further refinement to enhance pupils' understanding and retention of essential knowledge.

Strengths

• Pupils celebrate differences and feel welcome in a supportive school environment.
• Early years provision is effective, ensuring children get off to a flying start.
• Leaders have established a coherent and sequenced curriculum from Nursery to Year 6.
• Pupils are proud to take on roles of responsibility and demonstrate good behaviour.
• Strong emphasis on personal development, health education, and safety.
• Good relationships with external services to support pupils with SEND.

Areas for Improvement

• Some foundation subject curriculums lack clear identification of essential knowledge.
• Teaching does not effectively recap important content in certain subjects.

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 Bishops Lydeard Church School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.6% 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, 3.3% of pupils at Bishops Lydeard Church 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 Bishops Lydeard Church School had 24.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.9% 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, 13.8% of pupils at Bishops Lydeard Church School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.0% 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 Bishops Lydeard Church School received £7,534 and spent £7,008 for each of its 153 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £50,000 (£326 per pupil).

Across all 45 schools of The Bath and Wells Diocesan Academies Trust, income was £7,160 and spending £7,193 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 Taunton · Somerset local authority: places and applications

Bishops Lydeard Church School is part of The Bath and Wells Diocesan Academies Trust, which runs 46 schools. The nearest others:

• Norton Fitzwarren Church School Taunton
• Lydeard St Lawrence Community Primary School Taunton
• Staplegrove Church School Taunton
• St Andrew's Church School Taunton
• Cheddon Fitzpaine Church School Taunton
• St James Church School Taunton
• Wembdon St George's Church School Bridgwater
• St John and St Francis Church School Bridgwater
• St Mary's & St Peter's Church School Ilminster
• Churchfield Church School Highbridge

What is Bishops Lydeard Church School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bishops Lydeard Church School is Good, from an inspection in November 2022.

When was Bishops Lydeard Church School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bishops Lydeard Church School was last inspected in November 2022.

How many pupils does Bishops Lydeard Church School have?

Bishops Lydeard Church School has 196 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bishops Lydeard Church School cover?

Bishops Lydeard Church School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Bishops Lydeard Church School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 42% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bishops Lydeard Church School?

Bishops Lydeard Church School is at Mount Street, Bishops Lydeard, Taunton, Somerset, TA4 3AN.