St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Buckfast

About St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Buckfast

If you’re a parent weighing up St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Buckfast, the numbers suggest it’s a popular choice locally. In the 2025/26 admissions round, the school was oversubscribed: it offered 13 places and received 17 applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.31. All 13 first-preference applicants were offered a place, which is reassuring if you’re considering it as your top pick. The school’s parent-view data isn’t published here, but the fact that every first-preference family got in — despite more applications than places — hints at a school that families actively want but that isn’t impossibly hard to secure a spot at. With 163 pupils on roll against a capacity of 110, it’s running above its official number, which often signals strong local demand. The headteacher is Sophie Kerswell, and the school is a Roman Catholic state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 3 to 11, with nursery provision available.

Academically, St Mary’s performs well above the Devon local authority average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 67% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — that’s ten percentage points higher than the LA average of 57%. Reading scores are a particular strength: the average reading score was 110, and 53% of pupils achieved the higher standard in reading, compared with 13% in maths and 27% in writing. The maths average score was 105. In the Teignbridge local authority ranking, the school sits 13th out of 43 primary schools, placing it in the top 30% regionally and top 39% nationally. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in November 2021, confirmed the school remains Good, matching its previous graded inspection from October 2016. Leadership and management, early years provision, and overall effectiveness were all rated Good.

The school offers a solid range of facilities for a primary of its size, including a gymnasium, library, playing fields, ICT suite, outdoor playground, sports hall and a chapel. Sports on offer include swimming, gymnastics, cross country and tennis, while clubs cover drama, choir, science, chess, gardening and coding — so there’s variety for different interests. For families with children who have additional needs, the SEND provisions are broad: the school supports pupils with specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, physical disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. With 39.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively diverse intake. It’s a faith-based school with a Catholic character, so it will particularly suit families who value that ethos, but its strong academic results and oversubscription suggest it appeals to a wider group too.

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