St Mark's CofE Academy
General Information
- Address: Shop, Morwenstow, Bude, EX23 9PE – View on map
- Phone: 01288331395
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Deirdre Petersen
- Age range: 2-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 5 families put it first for 5 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Church of England
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 11
- % eligible for free school meals: 18.6%
- Pupil mix: 0 in 10 (less mixed than the Cornwall average)
- English as an additional language: 0% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 57.1% a year (Cornwall 17%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 75% moved to another school, 25% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 2 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Cornwall: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 8 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 9 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in Cornwall, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 5.0%
- Persistently absent pupils: 13.6%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 18.6%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 0.0%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Social, emotional and mental health: 6 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
No overall grade given 2025 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 25% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 35 percentage points below the Cornwall average (60%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 47% against an expected 58%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 47%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 50% · Writing 63% · Maths 25% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 38%
- Average test scores: reading 103, maths 96
- Based on: 8 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: joint 202nd of 209 junior and primary schools in the area
- #201Bishop Cornish CofE VA Primary School28%
- =202Boyton Community Primary School25%
- =202St Mark's CofE Academy25%
- #204Lanlivery Primary Academy22%
- #205Werrington Community Primary School18%
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,731 (2024-25)
70th of 219 primary schools in Cornwall for spending per pupil
- #68St Mary's CofE School, Truro£7,837
- #69Landulph School£7,829
- #70St Mark's CofE Academy£7,731
- #71Berrycoombe School£7,724
- #72Jacobstow Community Academy£7,684
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)