St Keverne Primary School

About St Keverne Primary School

St Keverne Primary School in Cornwall was rated Requires Improvement overall in its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2024, a drop from the Good rating it had held previously. The inspection report noted that while leadership and management, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision were all judged Good, the quality of education itself was the area requiring improvement. The most telling academic metric comes from the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, where just 14% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That figure is dramatically below the Cornwall local authority average of 58%, placing the school at 205th out of 208 primary schools in the county and in the bottom 50% nationally. The school’s ranking score of 14 puts it far behind local peers like Calstock Community Primary School, which scored 92.

Breaking down the KS2 results further, the picture is mixed. In reading, 43% of pupils reached the expected standard, which is closer to the national benchmark, and 14% achieved a higher standard. In writing, 29% met expectations, and in maths just 14% did. Average scaled scores were 97 in reading and 98 in maths, both slightly below the national average of 100. Progress scores were not available for any of the three subjects, so it is unclear whether pupils are making typical gains from their starting points. The school has no pupils achieving the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined. Despite the low headline figure, Ofsted rated behaviour and attitudes as Good, and personal development also earned a Good, suggesting that the school environment itself is not the issue. The early years provision was also rated Good, which may offer some reassurance for families with younger children.

St Keverne is a small village primary with just 52 pupils on roll, well below its capacity of 84. It is oversubscribed for 2025/26, with 7 applications for 6 places, and all 6 first-preference applicants were offered a spot. The school offers a range of facilities including a sports hall, art studios, ICT suite and an outdoor playground, plus clubs like eco club, drama and choir. Sports on offer include swimming, netball, cricket and gymnastics. The school has identified SEND provisions for moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families who value a small, community-focused setting with a Good-rated early years foundation and strong behaviour, St Keverne may still appeal, though the academic outcomes clearly need attention. The headteacher is Beth Hancock.

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