Bishops Tawton Primary School
School Lane, Bishops Tawton, Barnstaple, EX32 0AE
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Melanie Smallwood
- Constituency
- North Devon
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 168
- Pupils on roll
- 161
- URN
- 113134
- Local authority
- Devon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01271343002
About this school
Bishops Tawton Primary School is a foundation primary school in Barnstaple. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 161 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Bishops Tawton Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 22 | 20 | 26 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 73% | 75% | 54% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 14% | 5% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 91% | 85% | 77% |
| Expected standard in maths | 91% | 85% | 65% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 86% | 70% | 69% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.30 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Bishops Tawton Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Devon average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 73% | 55% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 75% | 54.9% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 54% | 57.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 164 |
| 2023/24 | 169 |
| 2024/25 | 159 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bishops Tawton Primary School compares
Bishops Tawton Primary School ranked 185th of 269 primary schools in Devon for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 28% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 91% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54% | 3.7% | 8.2% | 161 | — |
| Holywell Church of England School | 45% | 7.8% | 21.5% | 86 | 0.9 miles |
| Newport Community School Primary Academy | 52% | 5% | 19.5% | 469 | 1.2 miles |
| Eden Park Academy | 54% | 6.3% | 52.8% | 118 | 1.5 miles |
| Ashleigh CofE Primary School | 79% | 7.6% | 42.1% | 205 | 1.7 miles |
| Landkey Community Primary Academy | 57% | 5.9% | 13.2% | 178 | 1.8 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report6 May 2026
- 1 March 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 8.18%
- English as an additional language
- 0.6%
- Overall absence
- 3.69%
- Persistent absence
- 4.7%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Holywell Church of England School0.9 miles
Primary · Barnstaple
-
Newport Community School Primary Academy1.2 miles
Primary · Barnstaple
-
Eden Park Academy1.5 miles
Primary · Barnstaple
-
Ashleigh CofE Primary School1.7 miles
Primary · Barnstaple
-
Landkey Community Primary Academy1.8 miles
Primary · Barnstaple
Other schools in Barnstaple
Bishops Tawton Primary School ranks 9th of the 20 ranked primary schools in Barnstaple.
- Ashleigh CofE Primary School Primary
- Bratton Fleming Community Primary School Primary
- Brayford Academy Primary
- Eden Park Academy Primary
- Filleigh Community Primary School Primary
- Fremington Primary School Primary
- Goodleigh Church of England Primary School Primary
- Holywell Church of England School Primary
- Horwood and Newton Tracey Community Primary School Primary
- Kentisbury Primary School Primary
- Landkey Community Primary Academy Primary
- Marwood School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Bishops Tawton Primary School teach?
- Bishops Tawton Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Barnstaple.
- Who is the headteacher of Bishops Tawton Primary School?
- The headteacher of Bishops Tawton Primary School is Mrs Melanie Smallwood, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Bishops Tawton Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bishops Tawton Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Bishops Tawton Primary School?
- Bishops Tawton Primary School has 161 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Bishops Tawton Primary School full?
- Bishops Tawton Primary School has capacity for 168 pupils and 161 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Bishops Tawton Primary School a faith school?
- No. Bishops Tawton Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Bishops Tawton Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Bishops Tawton Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Bishops Tawton Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 73% in 2022/23 and 54% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bishops Tawton Primary School compare with other schools in Devon?
- Bishops Tawton Primary School ranked 185th of 269 primary schools in Devon for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 28% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 91% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bishops Tawton Primary School's absence rate?
- Bishops Tawton Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bishops Tawton Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bishops Tawton Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 15 July 2026.