The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School
1 Beacon Place, Exmouth, EX8 2SR
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Mrs Anne Billington
- Diocese
- Diocese of Exeter
- Constituency
- Exmouth and Exeter East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 151
- URN
- 113430
- Local authority
- Devon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01395264300
About this school
The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school in Exmouth. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 151 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Beacon Church of England (VA) 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
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Urgent improvement
- Early years
- Urgent improvement
- Safeguarding
- Met
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 27 | 18 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 52% | 50% | 57% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 11% | 13% |
| Expected standard in reading | 78% | 67% | 60% |
| Expected standard in maths | 74% | 61% | 73% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 74% | 72% | 53% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 106.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.30 | - | - |
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 The Beacon Church of England (VA) 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 | 52% | 55% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 50% | 54.9% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 57% | 57.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 168 |
| 2023/24 | 166 |
| 2024/25 | 166 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School compares
The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School ranked 160th of 269 primary schools in Devon for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57% | 5.4% | 18.7% | 151 | — |
| Exeter Road Community Primary School | 8% | 7.2% | 42% | 170 | 0.3 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth | 36% | 5.4% | 14.3% | 185 | 0.4 miles |
| Withycombe Raleigh Church of England Primary School | 68% | 5.7% | 23.2% | 611 | 1.0 miles |
| Marpool Primary School | 31% | 6.3% | 32.2% | 192 | 1.1 miles |
| Cockwood Primary School | 73% | 5% | 19.3% | 86 | 1.6 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.67%
- English as an additional language
- 21.7%
- Overall absence
- 5.43%
- Persistent absence
- 11.33%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Exeter Road Community Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Exmouth
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth0.4 miles
Primary · Exmouth
-
Withycombe Raleigh Church of England Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Exmouth
-
Marpool Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Exmouth
-
Cockwood Primary School1.6 miles
Primary · Exeter
Other schools in Exmouth
The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School ranks 3rd of the 9 ranked primary schools in Exmouth.
- Bassetts Farm Primary School Primary
- Brixington Primary Academy Primary
- Exeter Road Community Primary School Primary
- Littleham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Lympstone Church of England Primary School Primary
- Marpool Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth Primary
- Withycombe Raleigh Church of England Primary School Primary
- Exmouth Community College Secondary
- Royal Deaf Education Trust Special schools
- Royal Deaf Education Trust Other types
Common questions
- What ages does The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School teach?
- The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Exmouth.
- Who is the headteacher of The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School?
- The headteacher of The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School is Mrs Anne Billington, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Beacon Church of England (VA) 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 The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School?
- The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School has 151 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School full?
- The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 151 on roll (72%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Exeter.
- Does The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 52% in 2022/23 and 57% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School compare with other schools in Devon?
- The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School ranked 160th of 269 primary schools in Devon for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School's absence rate?
- The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Beacon Church of England (VA) 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.