High Bickington Church of England Primary Academy

About High Bickington Church of England Primary Academy

High Bickington Church of England Primary Academy is a small state primary in the Torridge area of Devon, serving just 90 pupils from age 2 to 11. Within its local authority, it sits 120th out of 309 same-type schools, placing it in the bottom half of the rankings. Its closest top-performing peers in the area include Stockland Church of England Primary Academy, Upottery Primary School, and Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School, all of which score significantly higher on the same ranking metric. The school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, with 13 applications for 8 places and all 8 first-preference offers taken up, giving a ratio of 1.63 applicants per place. That level of demand suggests a solid local reputation, even if the school doesn't top any league tables. Headteacher Ian Thomas leads a Church of England school that also offers nursery provision, and the school's capacity is listed at 70, meaning it currently exceeds that figure with its 90 pupils.

Academically, the school's most recent Ofsted inspection in 2021 rated it Good across all five categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This is a clear improvement from its previous inspection in 2016, when it was rated Requires Improvement overall. At Key Stage 2 in 2023/24, 59% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is just above the Devon local authority average of 57%. However, only 6% achieved the higher standard in all three subjects. Individual subject scores show reading and maths both averaging 106, with 71% reaching expected levels in each, while writing saw 88% at expected and 24% at a higher level. Progress scores are not available for any subject, so it's hard to gauge how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. Nationally, the school ranks in the bottom 50% of primaries on the combined expected standard metric.

The school offers a decent range of facilities for its size, including a sports hall, playing fields, library, art studios, gymnasium and a chapel. Sports on offer include football, netball, cricket, cross country, gymnastics and rounders, and there are clubs for book, chess, film and gardening. SEND provision is notably broad for a small school, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, speech and language needs, visual impairment, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. That makes it a potentially good fit for families in the Torridge area who want a Church of England primary with nursery provision and a strong SEND offer, but who are realistic about academic rankings. The oversubscription suggests it's a popular choice locally, though parents should be aware that the school is already over its stated capacity.

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