St Thomas Primary School

St Thomas Primary School has been rated as 'Good' in all areas during its first inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school has shown resilience through recent leadership changes, and trust leaders have managed the transitions to ensure the quality of education remains high. Pupils express enjoyment in their learning and feel safe, supported by a strong culture of care and effective communication from staff and leaders. The curriculum is described as ambitious and well-structured, particularly in early reading, and efforts are made to engage pupils in their responsibilities and various extracurricular activities.

Strengths

• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and high expectations.
• Strong leadership has managed recent changes effectively.
• An ambitious curriculum is implemented from early years.
• Effective phonics training helps pupils become confident readers.
• Pupils engage in a variety of extracurricular activities.
• There is a consistent approach to managing pupils' behaviour.

Areas for Improvement

• Support for pupils with SEND is not consistently effective.
• Some foundation subject leaders do not monitor implementation well.

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 Thomas Primary School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.2% 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, 2.6% of pupils at St Thomas 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 Thomas Primary School had 21.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.5% 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, 16.6% of pupils at St Thomas Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 Thomas Primary School received £7,000 and spent £6,815 for each of its 193 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £105,000 (£545 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Exeter Learning Academy Trust, income was £6,265 and spending £6,136 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 Exeter · Devon local authority: places and applications

St Thomas Primary School is part of Exeter Learning Academy Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Bowhill Primary School Exeter
• Alphington Primary School Exeter
• Ide Primary School Exeter

What is St Thomas Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Thomas Primary School is Good, from an inspection in April 2023.

When was St Thomas Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Thomas Primary School was last inspected in April 2023.

How many pupils does St Thomas Primary School have?

St Thomas Primary School has 193 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Thomas Primary School cover?

St Thomas Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are St Thomas Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 43% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Thomas Primary School?

St Thomas Primary School is at Union Street, Exeter, Devon, EX2 9BB.