Farway Church of England Primary School

About Farway Church of England Primary School

Farway Church of England Primary School is a small state primary in East Devon, currently operating well below its capacity of 56 pupils with just 36 on roll. This gives it an unusually intimate feel, but the school is not struggling for interest: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 4 applications for 3 available places, making it oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.33 applicants per place. All three first-preference families were offered a spot. The pupil body is notably diverse in socioeconomic terms — 29% of children are eligible for free school meals, which is significantly higher than the national average of around 23% and suggests the school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage. As a Church of England school, it has a religious character, and the headteacher is Sam Butler. The school also offers nursery provision for children from age 2, which may appeal to local families looking for continuity from early years through to Year 6.

Academically, Farway is in a period of transition. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, in March 2024, rated the school Requires Improvement overall — a downgrade from the Good rating it had held since at least its previous inspection in 2012. The inspection found that the quality of education, early years provision, and leadership and management all require improvement, while personal development and behaviour and attitudes were both judged Good. This mixed picture suggests that while the school maintains a positive environment for children’s personal growth, the core teaching and curriculum need strengthening. On the Key Stage 2 SATs, the local authority average for schools achieving the expected standard is 57%, but Farway’s own results are not available in the data, so it is hard to benchmark its academic performance against peers. The school does not have a sixth form, as it is a primary, and there are no A-Level results to consider.

Facilities at Farway include an ICT suite, art studios, a dining hall, an outdoor playground, and a chapel, which is fitting for its Church of England status. Sports provision covers football, cricket, rounders, swimming, and athletics, and there are clubs such as book club, coding, gardening, and chess. The school has a broad range of SEND provisions, including support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. This makes it a potentially strong fit for families whose children require additional support in a small, close-knit setting. Given its oversubscription and small intake, parents should apply early. The school is likely to suit families who value a village-school atmosphere with a Christian ethos, but who are also comfortable with a school that is actively working to improve its academic outcomes following a recent Ofsted downgrade.

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