Castle Cary Community Primary School

Castle Cary Community Primary School is performing at the expected standard across all inspected areas, with safeguarding standards met. This was the school's first inspection since it became an academy in December 2023 as part of the Academies For Character And Excellence trust. Leaders have raised expectations, and pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, achieve well overall. Published outcomes are broadly in line with national and improving, and early years provision is a notable strength.

Strengths

• Leaders have raised expectations and pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, achieve well.
• Pupils' outcomes are broadly in line with national and improving, including above-average Year 4 multiplication scores.
• Early years provision is strong, with systematic phonics and well-planned transition into Year 1.
• The trust curriculum is clearly sequenced and supports character development and reflection.
• Teaching generally adapts well to pupils' starting points and special educational needs.
• Inclusion is effective, with early identification and strong support for vulnerable pupils.
• Behaviour is positive, suspensions have reduced significantly, and bullying is rare.
• Personal development is broad, including community projects, extra-curricular clubs and pupil leadership roles.
• Governance and trust support are effective, and staff wellbeing and professional development are well supported.
• Pupils feel safe and have trusting relationships with adults.
• Strong community links and collaboration with the local secondary school support pupils' wider development and transition.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum delivery is not consistently precise, and instructions and resources sometimes lack clarity.
• When delivery is less precise, learning behaviours are not as secure and some pupils' progress stalls.
• Some disadvantaged pupils remain persistently absent and do not attend regularly enough.
• Published 2024/25 outcomes for disadvantaged pupils were below national in reading, writing and mathematics, with wide gaps.

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 Castle Cary Community Primary School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.9% 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, 3.1% of pupils at Castle Cary Community 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 Castle Cary Community Primary School had 20.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.0% 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, 11.9% of pupils at Castle Cary Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 Castle Cary Community Primary School received £7,053 and spent £7,265 for each of its 194 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £114,000 (£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 Somerset · Somerset local authority: places and applications

Castle Cary Community Primary School is part of The Academies for Character and Excellence, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Baltonsborough Church of England VC Primary School Glastonbury
• Milborne Port Primary School Sherborne
• Stoberry Park School Wells
• Ashill Community Primary School Ilminster
• Hatch Beauchamp Church of England Primary School Taunton
• Winsham Primary School Near Chard
• Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School Taunton
• Buckland St Mary Church of England Primary School Chard
• Stockland Church of England Primary Academy Honiton
• Trinity CofE Primary and Nursery School Exeter

What is Castle Cary Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Castle Cary Community Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Castle Cary Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Castle Cary Community Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Castle Cary Community Primary School have?

Castle Cary Community Primary School has 177 pupils on roll.

What age range does Castle Cary Community Primary School cover?

Castle Cary Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Castle Cary Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Castle Cary Community Primary School?

Castle Cary Community Primary School is at Park Street, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7EH.