Cockington Primary School

About Cockington Primary School

Cockington Primary School in Torbay has been rated Good by Ofsted following its most recent inspection in April 2025, a significant turnaround from its previous overall rating of Inadequate in October 2021. The school now receives top marks in behaviour and attitudes, which inspectors judged Outstanding, while quality of education, early years provision, personal development, and leadership and management are all rated Good. On the key academic metric for primary schools, 55% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year. This is slightly below the Torbay local authority average of 61%, placing Cockington 22nd out of 29 primary schools in the area. However, the school’s reading scores are a relative strength, with an average scaled score of 106 and 76% of pupils reaching the expected standard in that subject alone.

Looking more closely at the breakdown, 69% of pupils achieved the expected standard in maths and 60% in writing, while 24% reached the higher standard in maths and 39% in reading. The proportion reaching the higher standard across all three subjects was just 4%, which is low. Nationally, the school sits in the bottom 50% of primary schools on the combined expected standard metric, ranking 9,328th out of 13,686 schools. That said, the school’s progress scores for reading, writing and maths are not available in the data, so it is difficult to assess how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. The school has 419 pupils on roll against a capacity of 480, and 33.7% are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average and suggests a higher-than-average level of disadvantage.

Cockington is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 academic year, with 28 first-preference applications for 28 places and a total of 51 applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.82. The school offers a range of facilities including a sports hall, playing fields, an outdoor playground and a dining hall, with clubs covering gardening, drama and choir. Sports provision includes gymnastics, tennis, rounders, cricket, dance, cross country and netball. The school’s SEND provisions cover autistic spectrum disorder, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, visual impairment and physical disability. Parent View responses from 57 families between September 2024 and September 2025 were overwhelmingly positive, with 91% saying they would recommend the school. Notably, 93% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that their child is happy, and 95% felt their child does well at the school. This is a school that has clearly rebuilt confidence since its previous inspection and is popular locally, though families prioritising top academic outcomes in Torbay may want to look at higher-ranked schools like Hayes School, which is 4.8 km away and rated Outstanding.

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