Victoria Road Primary

Victoria Road Primary is a calm and purposeful school where pupils behave well, focus on learning and achieve well. All key judgements are good, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. Children in the early years get off to a strong start, reading and phonics are taught well, pupils with SEND are supported effectively, and attendance is improving. The school has managed recent changes well with support from The Learning Academies Trust. A new headteacher and assistant headteacher were appointed in September 2024, and the school retains the confidence of staff, pupils and parents. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and personal development is strengthened through activities such as the school parliament, theatre visits and community projects. The main area for improvement is that in a few subjects the curriculum is not sequenced logically, which makes it harder for pupils to build securely on prior knowledge. The trust should ensure all subjects are equally well designed so pupils know more and remember more across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils are polite, respectful and focused in lessons.
• Expectations for behaviour and achievement are high.
• Children in the early years get off to a flying start in a stimulating environment.
• Early years staff support children's routines and positive interactions well.
• Pupils have a meaningful voice through the school parliament.
• Personal development broadens pupils' social, moral, spiritual and cultural understanding.
• The curriculum is effective in most subjects and carefully sequenced.
• Staff use previously learned vocabulary well when introducing new content.
• A love of reading is visible across the school.
• Phonics teaching is effective and books match pupils' sounds.
• The key stage 2 reading curriculum is now more ambitious.
• Pupils with SEND learn with equal success and their needs are identified quickly.
• Attendance is improving because leaders understand barriers and work well with parents.
• Recent changes have been managed well with trust support.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, curriculum sequencing is weak, so pupils struggle to build on prior knowledge.
• The trust should ensure all subjects are equally well designed so pupils know and remember more.

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 Victoria Road Primary attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.8% 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, 1.7% of pupils at Victoria Road Primary 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 Victoria Road Primary had 18.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.0% 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, 22.7% of pupils at Victoria Road Primary were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.7% 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 Victoria Road Primary received £9,782 and spent £9,417 for each of its 171 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £171,000 (£1,002 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Learning Academies Trust, income was £7,222 and spending £6,990 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 Plymouth · Plymouth local authority: places and applications

Victoria Road Primary is part of Learning Academies Trust, which runs 18 schools. The nearest others:

• Plaistow Hill Primary and Nursery School Plymouth
• Mayflower Academy Plymouth
• Knowle Primary School Plymouth
• Ford Primary School Plymouth
• Shakespeare Primary School Plymouth
• Woodfield Primary School Plymouth
• Hyde Park Junior School Plymouth
• Mount Wise Community Primary School Plymouth
• Hyde Park Infants' School Plymouth
• Mount Street Primary School Plymouth

What is Victoria Road Primary's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Victoria Road Primary is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Victoria Road Primary last inspected by Ofsted?

Victoria Road Primary was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Victoria Road Primary have?

Victoria Road Primary has 172 pupils on roll.

What age range does Victoria Road Primary cover?

Victoria Road Primary for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Victoria Road Primary's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 44% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Victoria Road Primary?

Victoria Road Primary is at Trelawney Avenue, St Budeaux, Plymouth, Devon, PL5 1RH.