Countess Wear Primary School

About Countess Wear Primary School

Countess Wear Primary School is a state-funded mixed primary in Exeter, within the Devon local authority. Among the 309 primary schools in the county, it sits some distance from the top-ranked peers identified in local data: Stockland Church of England Primary Academy, Upottery Primary School, and Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School all hold higher ranking scores. The school is led by headteacher Jonathan Bishop and caters for children aged 2 to 11, with a nursery provision on site. It has a capacity of 405 pupils but currently enrols just 201, meaning it is operating well below its potential roll. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 43.6%, which is notably high and suggests a significant level of socio-economic disadvantage among the intake. The school does not have a religious character, and its most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in October 2022, rated it as Requires Improvement across all five graded categories, including overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This was a consistent outcome, with the early years provision also judged to require improvement.

Academically, the picture is one of a school that has struggled to meet expected standards. The 2022 Ofsted report, which is the most recent graded inspection available, found that the quality of education requires improvement, as did behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The previous inspection, in January 2019, had also rated the school as Requires Improvement overall, with leadership and management and early years provision both at the same level. No Key Stage 2 SATs results are provided in the data, so it is not possible to compare the school’s attainment directly against the Devon local authority average of 57% for expected standards in reading, writing, and maths. However, the sustained Requires Improvement rating across two inspections suggests that academic outcomes have not yet reached a satisfactory level. The school does not have a sixth form, and its focus remains on primary education from early years through to Year 6. The lack of published progress measures or exam data means parents will need to rely on the Ofsted findings and their own visits to gauge current academic performance.

For families considering Countess Wear, the practical context is mixed. The school offers a range of facilities including playing fields, a library, a forest school, a dining hall, art studios, and a chapel. Sports provision includes football, athletics, tennis, and cross country, while clubs extend to drama, chess, science club, choir, and book club. The school has a broad SEND offer, with provisions for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, autistic spectrum disorder, and other difficulties or disabilities. Admissions data for the 2025/26 intake shows the school is oversubscribed: it received 17 applications for 9 places, with 8 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.89. This suggests local demand is strong despite the Ofsted rating. The school may suit families who value a small, community-focused primary with strong SEND support and a forest school ethos, but who are prepared to engage closely with school improvement efforts given the current inspection outcome.

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