Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School

Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School is a welcoming and happy school where pupils love attending and achieve well. The school has been judged at the expected standard across all areas, with pupils' outcomes in national tests at the end of key stage 2 typically at least in line with national averages, and often above. Attendance is above average, persistent absence is low, and pupils behave well. The school's strong Christian ethos and focus on character development, supported by the multi-academy trust, help pupils become confident, independent and responsible citizens.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well, with outcomes at the end of key stage 2 typically at least in line with national averages, and often above.
• The school has a coherent and ambitious curriculum that supports pupils to build knowledge across subjects.
• Staff give pupils effective support to learn to read successfully, reflected in all pupils meeting the expected standard in the 2026 phonics screening check.
• Pupils' attendance is above average and persistent absence is typically low.
• Pupils behave well and benefit from clear behaviour systems.
• Early years provision is strong, with a focus on vocabulary development and preparing children well for key stage 1.
• Leaders have effective systems to identify pupils' additional needs and provide appropriate support, including for those with complex needs.
• The school prioritises pupils' character development through a well-planned trust character education curriculum.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment opportunities, including visits, clubs and trust-wide events.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and value the support for their workload and wellbeing.
• Governance is effective, with those responsible for governance having an accurate view of the school and holding leaders to account.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.

Areas for Improvement

• Sometimes assessment information is not used well enough to reshape future learning in response to pupils' gaps in knowledge, slowing progress for some pupils, including some with SEND.
• There is still some variance in the implementation of learning plans for pupils with SEND, and staff do not always follow these with precision.
• Leaders' evaluation of the progress pupils with SEND make lacks some rigour, so not all pupils gain from skilful adjustments in response to their developing needs.
• Some wider knowledge of the personal, social and health education curriculum is patchy, such as pupils' knowledge of how people can be different and knowledge of different faiths and cultures.

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 Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.8% 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, 2.5% of pupils at Collaton St Mary Church of England 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 Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School had 23.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.6% 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, 15.6% of pupils at Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.0% 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 Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School received £7,170 and spent £7,256 for each of its 203 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £120,000 (£590 per pupil).

Across all 20 schools of The Academies for Character and Excellence, income was £6,628 and spending £6,807 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 Paignton · Torbay local authority: places and applications

Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School is part of The Academies for Character and Excellence, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School Totnes
• Galmpton Church of England Primary School Brixham
• Totnes St John's Church of England Primary School Totnes
• Torre Church of England Academy Torquay
• Brixham Church of England Primary School Brixham
• Shaldon Primary School Teignmouth
• Trinity CofE Primary and Nursery School Exeter
• St Gabriel's CofE Primary School Exeter
• Newtown Primary School Exeter
• Stockland Church of England Primary Academy Honiton

What is Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School have?

Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School has 199 pupils on roll.

What age range does Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School cover?

Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 73% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School?

Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School is at Blagdon Road, Paignton, Devon, TQ3 3YA.