North Molton Primary School

About North Molton Primary School

North Molton Primary School sits within the Devon local authority, a mixed state primary for children aged 2 to 11. In the North Devon area, it ranks 22nd out of 31 primary schools, placing it in the bottom half of its immediate local cohort. The top-performing peers in the same local authority include Stockland Church of England Primary Academy, Upottery Primary School, and Berry Pomeroy Parochial CofE Primary School, all of which achieve higher ranking scores. Across the wider Devon primary landscape, the school ranks 164th out of 309 schools of the same type, with only five schools in the authority rated Outstanding by Ofsted. North Molton itself holds a Good rating, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement judgement in 2010. Its most recent graded inspection took place in 2012, and an ungraded visit in July 2023 confirmed the school remains Good, with leadership and management also rated Good.

Academically, the school’s Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 year show a mixed picture. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined is 50%, which is below the Devon local authority average of 57%. However, individual subjects tell a more nuanced story: 80% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, and 70% did so in writing, while maths lagged at 60%. At the higher standard, 50% of pupils achieved above expectations in reading, compared to 20% in both writing and maths. Average scaled scores were 111 in reading and 106 in maths, both above the national baseline of 100. Progress measures are not available in the data, so it is unclear how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. Nationally, the school ranks in the bottom 50% of primaries, sitting at the 77th percentile for the combined expected standard metric.

The school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 academic year, with 14 first-preference applications for 14 places and a total of 16 applications overall, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.14. Facilities include a library, music rooms, a sensory room, gymnasium, and chapel, and the school offers a range of sports from football and cricket to athletics and rounders. Clubs such as gardening, chess, drama, science, and film club are available. North Molton provides nursery provision and supports a broad range of SEND needs, including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language difficulties, and social, emotional, and mental health needs. This is a small, rural primary with a strong focus on inclusion and a good Ofsted rating, but families should weigh its below-average combined KS2 outcomes against the strong reading results and the school’s clear improvement trajectory from its previous Requires Improvement rating.

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