Upton St James CofE Primary School
St James Road, Upton, Torquay, TQ1 4AZ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- ST CHRISTOPHER'S C OF E (PRIMARY) MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Oliver Jefferies
- Diocese
- Diocese of Exeter
- Constituency
- Torbay
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 105
- Pupils on roll
- 94
- URN
- 142669
- Local authority
- Torbay
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01803328286
About this school
Upton St James CofE Primary School is a Church of England primary academy in Torquay. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 94 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 33% | 20% | 36% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 73% | 67% | 60% |
| Expected standard in maths | 33% | 33% | 53% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 67% | 53% | 67% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 103.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 97.0 | 98.0 | 98.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -7.20 | - | - |
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 Upton St James CofE 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 | Torbay average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 33% | 57% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 20% | 57.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 36% | 57.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 95 |
| 2023/24 | 98 |
| 2024/25 | 98 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Upton St James CofE Primary School compares
Upton St James CofE Primary School ranked 29th of 30 primary schools in Torbay for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 9% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36% | 6.9% | 52% | 94 | — |
| Ellacombe Church of England Academy | 71% | 6.1% | 44.9% | 337 | 0.3 miles |
| Homelands Primary School | 57% | 7.7% | 36.1% | 208 | 0.5 miles |
| Torre Church of England Academy | 84% | 4% | 28% | 310 | 0.5 miles |
| St Margaret's Academy | 54% | 5.4% | 27.4% | 382 | 0.6 miles |
| Priory Roman Catholic Primary School, Torquay | 44% | 8% | 34.4% | 107 | 0.7 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 52.04%
- English as an additional language
- 13.3%
- Overall absence
- 6.89%
- Persistent absence
- 22.11%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ellacombe Church of England Academy0.3 miles
Primary · Torquay
-
Homelands Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Torquay
-
Torre Church of England Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Torquay
-
St Margaret's Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Torquay
-
Priory Roman Catholic Primary School, Torquay0.7 miles
Primary · Torquay
Other schools in Torquay
Upton St James CofE Primary School ranks 17th of the 17 ranked primary schools in Torquay.
- All Saints Babbacombe CofE Primary School Primary
- Cockington Primary School Primary
- Ellacombe Church of England Academy Primary
- Homelands Primary School Primary
- Ilsham Church of England Academy Primary
- Lift Barton Hill Primary
- Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary School Primary
- Preston Primary School Primary
- Priory Roman Catholic Primary School, Torquay Primary
- Sherwell Valley Primary School Primary
- Shiphay Learning Academy Primary
- St Margaret's Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Upton St James CofE Primary School teach?
- Upton St James CofE Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Torquay.
- Who is the headteacher of Upton St James CofE Primary School?
- The headteacher of Upton St James CofE Primary School is Mr Oliver Jefferies, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Upton St James CofE Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Upton St James CofE 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 big is Upton St James CofE Primary School?
- Upton St James CofE Primary School has 94 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Upton St James CofE Primary School full?
- Upton St James CofE Primary School has capacity for 105 pupils and 94 on roll (90%), 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 Upton St James CofE Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. Upton St James CofE Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Exeter.
- Does Upton St James CofE Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Upton St James CofE Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Upton St James CofE Primary School?
- Upton St James CofE Primary School is part of ST CHRISTOPHER'S C OF E (PRIMARY) MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Upton St James CofE Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 33% in 2022/23 and 36% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Upton St James CofE Primary School rank locally?
- Upton St James CofE Primary School ranked 29th of 30 primary schools in Torbay for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 9% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Upton St James CofE Primary School's absence rate?
- Upton St James CofE Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Upton St James CofE Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Upton St James CofE 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 2 July 2026.