Combe Martin Primary School

Combe Martin Primary is a happy, welcoming school where pupils take pride in attending and generally show positive attitudes to learning. Behaviour and attitudes and personal development are good, safeguarding is effective, and pupils benefit from a wide range of trips, clubs, pastoral support and opportunities to contribute to their community. The curriculum is well sequenced and ambitious in intent, and staff have worked hard to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, the quality of education and leadership and management require improvement because the curriculum is not yet implemented consistently. Some teaching does not match the ambition of the intended curriculum, assessment checks do not reliably identify gaps in pupils' knowledge, and some pupils—including in early years and Reception reading—are not building secure knowledge. Early years provision also requires improvement because staff are not always clear about what children should learn. The school is part of Alumnis Multi-Academy Trust, is smaller than average, and has mixed-age classes with provision from age two. Leaders, the trust and governors have an accurate view of the school's strengths and areas for development.

Strengths

• Happy and welcoming school where pupils take pride in attending
• Pupils generally show positive attitudes to learning and develop character virtues such as resilience
• The curriculum intent is ambitious and well sequenced across subjects, starting in early years
• A wide range of trips, experiences, clubs and pupil leadership roles enriches pupils' learning
• The school promotes a love of reading from Nursery and supports older pupils to become fluent readers
• Staff build positive relationships and provide high-quality pastoral support
• The school works with families to support good attendance
• Pupils with SEND are supported to learn alongside their peers
• Pupils are supported to be active citizens through activities such as beach cleans and charity fundraising
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• The school, trust and those responsible for governance have an accurate view of the school

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is variable and does not consistently meet the ambition of the intended curriculum
• Some pupils, including pupils with SEND, do not build secure knowledge across the curriculum
• Early years staff are sometimes not clear enough about what children should learn, limiting children's foundations
• Assessment checks do not reliably identify important gaps in knowledge or repeated errors
• Reception children do not receive enough support to practise and embed new phonics sounds
• Some pupils' work does not match what the school wants them to learn

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 Combe Martin Primary School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.8% 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, 3.4% of pupils at Combe Martin 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 Combe Martin Primary School had 22.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 11.7% of pupils at Combe Martin 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 Combe Martin Primary School received £7,742 and spent £7,754 for each of its 147 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £21,000 (-£141 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Alumnis Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,834 and spending £8,144 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 Ilfracombe · Devon local authority: places and applications

Combe Martin Primary School is part of Alumnis Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• Woolacombe School Woolacombe
• Bampton Church of England Primary School Tiverton
• Webber's Church of England Primary School Wellington
• Burlescombe Church of England Primary School Tiverton

What is Combe Martin Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Combe Martin Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Combe Martin Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Combe Martin Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Combe Martin Primary School have?

Combe Martin Primary School has 137 pupils on roll.

What age range does Combe Martin Primary School cover?

Combe Martin Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Combe Martin Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Combe Martin Primary School?

Combe Martin Primary School is at Hangman Path, Combe Martin, Ilfracombe, Devon, EX34 0DF.