Caen Community Primary School

About Caen Community Primary School

Caen Community Primary School in North Devon is a state primary for children aged 2 to 11, and it is clearly a popular choice among local families. The school has a capacity of 420 pupils but currently enrols 355, leaving some room to grow. However, the demand for places is strong: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 57 applications for just 30 places, with 33 of those coming as first preferences. Only 28 first-preference offers were made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.9 applicants per place. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 10.2%, which is below the national average for primary schools and suggests a relatively affluent intake compared with many schools in Devon. The school is non-religious and co-educational, with a headteacher, Mimi McAuley, leading a mixed-gender cohort that includes a nursery provision for two-year-olds.

Academically, Caen Community Primary School was rated Good in its most recent Ofsted inspection in March 2023, with all inspected categories — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — all judged to be Good. At Key Stage 2, 54% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is slightly below the Devon local authority average of 57%. The school’s average scaled scores were 107 in reading and 105 in maths, both above the national benchmark of 100. A higher proportion of pupils achieved the higher standard in reading (41%) than in maths (29%) or writing (7%). Nationally, the school ranks in the bottom 50% of primaries on the combined expected standard metric, sitting at the 71st percentile, and 19th out of 31 schools in the North Devon local authority area.

The school offers a solid range of facilities, including a gymnasium, sports hall, library, ICT suite, playing fields, a sensory room, and a forest school area. Sports provision covers football, swimming, cross country, tennis, cricket, athletics and gymnastics, while clubs include chess, choir, coding, gardening, drama and art club. For children with additional needs, the school lists support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language challenges, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. Given its oversubscription and strong local reputation, Caen is best suited to families living within its catchment area who value a Good-rated primary with strong early years provision and a broad extracurricular offer. The school does not have a sixth form, and it is not a boarding school.

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