St Mary's CofE School, Truro

About St Mary's CofE School, Truro

St Mary's CofE School, Truro sits within the Cornwall local authority, a large county with 235 primary schools. Among these, it ranks 107th, placing it in the bottom half of the local league table. The top-performing peers in the area are Calstock Community Primary School, Landewednack Community Primary School, and St Buryan Primary School, all of which score significantly higher on the same ranking metric. St Mary's is a state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 4 to 11, with a Church of England character and a current roll of 206 children, just under its capacity of 210. The school is led by headteacher Louise Stevenson and has a moderate proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 16.5 per cent. In its most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in June 2025, the school was rated Good across all assessed areas, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This represents a change from its previous inspection in 2014, when it was judged Outstanding overall.

Academically, St Mary's produces a mixed picture at Key Stage 2. In the 2023/24 academic year, 59 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is just above the Cornwall local authority average of 58 per cent. However, the school's ranking on this metric places it in the bottom 50 per cent nationally, at the 60th percentile. Looking at individual subjects, reading is a clear strength: 90 per cent of pupils met the expected standard and 41 per cent achieved a higher score, with an average scaled score of 108. Maths is more modest, with 69 per cent reaching the expected level and an average score of 103, while writing saw 72 per cent at the expected standard but only 3 per cent at the higher level. No progress scores are available for any subject, so it is not possible to assess how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. The school does not have a sixth form, and there is no nursery provision on site.

St Mary's is a popular choice for local families, with 36 first-preference applications for 28 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, making it oversubscribed with a ratio of 4.36 applications per place. The school offers a range of facilities including a dining hall, gymnasium, library, art studios, playing fields, and a chapel. Sports on offer include dance, swimming, cricket, cross country, and tennis, while clubs range from book club and coding to gardening and science club. The school provides support for a number of special educational needs, including dyslexia, speech and language difficulties, hearing impairment, physical disability, and social, emotional and mental health needs. Parent View responses from 72 families between September 2024 and September 2025 were largely positive: 86 per cent would recommend the school, and strong majorities agreed that their child is happy, feels safe, and does well. However, a notable minority disagreed that behaviour is well managed and that concerns are dealt with properly, which may be worth investigating further.

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