Austin Farm Academy

About Austin Farm Academy

Austin Farm Academy, a state primary in Plymouth, has turned a significant corner. Its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 awarded an overall rating of Good, a striking improvement from the Inadequate rating it received in 2021. The turnaround is reflected across the board: leadership, behaviour, personal development, and the quality of education all now sit at Good, while the early years provision was singled out as Outstanding. On the headline academic measure for primary schools, 60% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined in the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 tests. That figure sits just below the Plymouth local authority average of 63%, placing the school 41st out of 65 primaries in the area. It is a solid, if not spectacular, result for a school that has clearly been through a period of upheaval.

Digging into the detail of those KS2 results, the picture is mixed but encouraging. In maths, 76% of pupils reached the expected standard, with an average scaled score of 104, and 16% achieved the higher standard. Reading saw 72% at the expected level, also with an average score of 104, and 24% reached the higher benchmark. Writing was slightly lower, with 68% meeting expectations and just 8% hitting the higher mark. The combined expected standard of 60% means that roughly two in five pupils did not reach that threshold across all three subjects, which is worth noting. Nationally, the school sits in the bottom half of the rankings for this metric, at the 58th percentile. However, given the context of a school that was rated Inadequate just two years prior, the trajectory is clearly upward, and the leadership team under headteacher Ruth Baptiste appears to have stabilised things.

With 117 pupils on a capacity of 210, the school is significantly under-enrolled, but it was oversubscribed for 2025/26 entry, receiving 25 applications for just 13 places, with 12 of those being first-preference offers. This suggests a growing local reputation. The school serves a community with high levels of disadvantage — 53% of pupils are eligible for free school meals — and its SEND provisions are notably broad, covering moderate learning difficulties, speech and language needs, social and emotional mental health, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Facilities include a sensory room, a sports hall, an ICT suite, and a library, with clubs ranging from gardening to eco club. For families in Plymouth looking for a primary that has demonstrably improved its standards and offers strong support for a wide range of needs, Austin Farm Academy is worth a closer look.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About Austin Farm Academy

Helpful Guides for Parents