The Park Community School

The Park Community School is improving rapidly and inspectors found positive provision across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management, moving on from its previous requires improvement judgement. Pupils respond well to high expectations, lessons typically proceed without disruption, and pupils are orderly and respectful. The school has a welcoming culture built around its Park Pillars values, with strong pastoral care, effective safeguarding, and a well-structured personal development programme including careers education and Duke of Edinburgh-linked enrichment. Pupils follow a broad and ambitious curriculum and attainment is above the national average overall. However, there are a few subjects where pupils do not achieve as well as they should, often affecting disadvantaged pupils. Teaching is improving but remains inconsistent: in some subjects pupils’ understanding is not checked effectively, and teaching is not always adapted well to individual needs or starting points. Reading catch-up is strong in Years 7 to 9 but less well developed in key stage 4. The school is part of The Harbour Schools Partnership multi-academy trust and joined it in April 2025 following a merger; the headteacher joined in September 2023. Leaders are united and staff morale is high, and recent trust-level organisational changes have been navigated without interrupting support or governance. The main remaining concerns are inconsistent teaching quality and the persistent absence of disadvantaged pupils, which is reducing their achievement over time.

Strengths

• Pupils typically behave well, move around the school in an orderly and respectful way, and lessons proceed without disruption.
• The school has a welcoming and tolerant culture underpinned by its Park Pillars values of participation, aspiration, responsibility and kindness.
• Pupils play a key role in promoting a positive culture, including through training as mentors in the prevention of violence and bullying.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, and attainment is above the national average overall.
• Pastoral care is well developed, with staff available to offer support to pupils.
• Extra-curricular activities, often linked to the Duke of Edinburgh’s award, build volunteering experience and resilience.
• Pupils’ special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified clearly, and teaching approaches provide wide benefits for pupils with SEND and others.
• Focused teaching helps pupils in Years 7 to 9 who have fallen behind in reading to catch up.
• The personal development programme is well structured and covers healthy relationships, the world of work and careers, including raising aspiration among disadvantaged pupils.
• Leaders at all levels are united in their ambitious vision, staff morale is high, and trust-level changes have been handled skilfully.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• There remains inconsistency in the quality of teaching across subjects.
• In a few subjects, pupils’ understanding is not checked effectively, so pupils do not build knowledge securely.
• Teaching is not always adjusted well enough to meet pupils’ individual needs and different starting points.
• Some subjects do not achieve as well as they should, and this often affects disadvantaged pupils.
• Persistent absence among disadvantaged pupils remains too high and reduces their achievement over time.
• Reading catch-up and wider reading arrangements are less well developed for pupils in key stage 4.

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 The Park Community School attended 90.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.0% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 9.8% of pupils at The Park Community School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 The Park Community School had 17.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 12.6% of pupils at The Park Community School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2023–24 The Park Community School received £7,612 and spent £7,488 for each of its 1,416 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £893,000 (£631 per pupil).

Across all 29 schools of The Harbour Schools Partnership, income was £6,848 and spending £6,935 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 Barnstaple · Devon local authority: places and applications

The Park Community School is part of The Harbour Schools Partnership, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• Newport Community School Primary Academy Barnstaple
• Eden Park Academy Barnstaple
• Ashleigh CofE Primary School Barnstaple
• Orchard Vale Community School Barnstaple
• Sticklepath Community Primary Academy Barnstaple
• Pilton Community College Barnstaple
• Holywell Church of England School Barnstaple
• Landkey Community Primary Academy Barnstaple
• Roundswell Community Primary Academy Barnstaple
• Fremington Primary School Barnstaple

What is The Park Community School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Park Community School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was The Park Community School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Park Community School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does The Park Community School have?

The Park Community School has 1,408 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Park Community School cover?

The Park Community School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are The Park Community School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 47.5, and 53% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Park Community School?

The Park Community School is at Park Lane, Barnstaple, Devon, EX32 9AX.