High View School

About High View School

High View School sits within the Plymouth local authority, where it is one of nine primary schools currently rated Outstanding by Ofsted. In the most recent local rankings based on KS2 reading, writing and maths combined expected standard, the school placed 29th out of 65 primaries in the area, with a score of 67. That puts it behind the top three local peers — Tor Bridge Primary School (87), Elburton Primary School (85) and Hooe Primary Academy (82) — but still comfortably inside the top half of Plymouth primaries. Nationally, it sits in the 40th percentile among all state primaries. The school is led by headteacher Tessa Saunders and serves 347 pupils, which is above its stated capacity of 315, reflecting genuine local demand. With 35.2% of pupils eligible for free school meals, High View draws from a community with above-average economic disadvantage, making its strong Ofsted record particularly notable.

Academically, High View delivers solid results that outpace the local average. In the 2023/24 KS2 assessments, 67% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with the Plymouth average of 63%. The school’s strongest individual subject was reading, where 80% met the expected standard and 24% achieved the higher standard. In maths, 71% reached the expected level and 16% hit the higher mark, while in writing 78% met expectations and 13% reached greater depth. Average scaled scores were 105 in reading and 103 in maths. Ofsted’s most recent inspection in November 2023 awarded the top grade — Outstanding — across every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This is a clean sweep of Grade 1 judgements, and the school has held an Outstanding rating since at least its previous inspection in 2011.

The school offers a broad set of facilities including a sports hall, art studios, a forest school, library, playing fields, ICT suite and even a chapel. Sports provision covers cricket, rounders, gymnastics and cross country, while clubs include science club, film club and choir. High View also has a nursery provision for children from age three. Its SEND support is wide-ranging, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language difficulties, hearing impairment, physical disability, autistic spectrum disorder and other difficulties. Admissions for 2025/26 show the school is oversubscribed: 82 applications for 42 places, with 45 first-preference applications and 42 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.95. This is a school that suits families looking for a consistently high-performing, inclusive primary with strong early years provision and a clear track record of academic outcomes above the local norm.

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