St Francis CofE Primary School

About St Francis CofE Primary School

Parents considering St Francis CofE Primary School will find a school that local families clearly want to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 125 applications for 60 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.08, meaning more than two families applied for every available spot. Of those, 50 first-preference families were offered places, which suggests a strong local reputation. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022 was ungraded and confirmed the school remains Good overall, with leadership and management judged Outstanding. That's a notable upgrade from its previous graded inspection in 2013, when it was rated Good overall. The 2022 inspection found the school continues to meet the standard, so parents can feel confident the quality has been maintained. With 407 pupils on roll against a capacity of 420, the school is nearly full, and the high application numbers reinforce that this is a sought-after option in Cornwall.

Academically, St Francis performs solidly against local benchmarks. At Key Stage 2 in 2023/24, 66% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is above the Cornwall local authority average of 58%. The school's ranking in the LA is 71st out of 208 primary schools, placing it in the top 34% locally. Looking at individual subjects, reading and writing both saw 73% and 80% of pupils hitting the expected standard respectively, while maths was also at 80%. At the higher standard, 27% achieved in reading, 15% in maths and 12% in writing, with 5% reaching that level across all three. Average scaled scores were 105 in reading and 104 in maths, both slightly above the national average of 100. The school's national ranking places it in the 42nd percentile, so while not elite, it delivers consistent, above-average outcomes for its pupils.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including an art studio, ICT suite, forest school area, chapel and outdoor playground. Sports provision covers rounders, swimming, cricket, football, netball, athletics and cross country, with clubs extending to art, coding and science. SEND support is well-developed, with provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, and autistic spectrum disorder. This makes it a practical choice for families who want a Church of England primary with strong pastoral and academic foundations, but who also need a school that can accommodate a range of additional needs. The school suits families who value a community-focused primary with proven academic results and a clear demand from local parents.

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