Ford Primary School

About Ford Primary School

Ford Primary School in Plymouth has undergone a notable turnaround, with its most recent Ofsted inspection in February 2025 awarding Good ratings across all five graded categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership. This marks a clear improvement from its previous inspection in June 2022, when the school was rated Requires Improvement overall. The most telling academic metric comes from the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results: only 42% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, placing the school 60th out of 65 primary schools in the Plymouth local authority, in the bottom 50% nationally. While this figure is well below the local authority average of 63%, it is worth noting that individual subject scores tell a slightly more nuanced story, with 65% of pupils reaching the expected standard in maths and 62% in writing.

Looking more closely at the KS2 data, average scores in reading and maths both sit at 101, exactly the national benchmark, suggesting that while many pupils are hitting the expected level in individual subjects, fewer are sustaining that across all three. The proportion reaching the higher standard is low: just 4% in the combined measure, 19% in maths and 23% in reading. The school's ranking score of 42 places it in the bottom tier locally, and it sits 1.7 kilometres from the nearest Outstanding-rated school, Mayflower Academy. On the positive side, the Ofsted inspectors noted that personal development and early years provision are both Good, and the school has a nursery provision for children from age three, which may help with early intervention and school readiness.

Ford Primary is a smaller-than-average school with 192 pupils against a capacity of 210, and it was oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, receiving 27 applications for 16 places, with all 15 first-preference applicants offered a spot. The school serves a community with high levels of disadvantage, reflected in 48.6% of pupils eligible for free school meals. Facilities include a library, music rooms, art studios, an ICT suite, a gymnasium and playing fields, with clubs ranging from science and eco club to gardening and film club. SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional needs, speech and language needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent views are mixed: while 53% would recommend the school, only 47% of respondents agreed that their child is happy, and 47% disagreed that their child does well. This is a school that has made real progress in its Ofsted rating but still faces significant challenges in raising academic outcomes, particularly for its most disadvantaged pupils.

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