Upton St James CofE Primary School

Torbay · TQ1 4AZ

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 94 pupils, 45.7% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 33% on SEN support Behaviour 6.9% absence rate Staff 64.2% turnover Financials £6,908 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Upton St James CofE Primary School

General Information

Address: St James Road, Upton, Torquay, TQ1 4AZ – View on map
Phone: 01803328286
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Oliver Jefferies
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 7 families put it first for 7 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 13 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

94 pupils out of 105 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 43
% eligible for free school meals: 45.7%
Pupil mix: 5 in 10 (more mixed than the Torbay average)
English as an additional language: 12% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 64.2% a year (Torbay 17.7%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 54% moved to another school, 46% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 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

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Torbay: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (0.1 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 Torbay, 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: 6.9%
Persistently absent pupils: 22.1%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 33.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 7.4%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 12 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 10 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 4 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

No overall grade given 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 36% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 26 percentage points below the Torbay average (62%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 30% against an expected 48%)
3-year average (expected standard): 30%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 60% · Writing 71% · Maths 53% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 67%
Average test scores: reading 103, maths 98
Based on: 15 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

This schoolTorbay averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 26 percentage points below the Torbay average (62%).

Year 6 SATs: 29th of 30 junior and primary schools in the area

#27Priory Roman Catholic Primary School, Torquay44%
#28Watcombe Primary School37%
#29Upton St James CofE Primary School36%
#30St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School29%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Galmpton Church of England Primary School91%
#2Ilsham Church of England Academy88%
#3Torre Church of England Academy84%
#4Warberry CofE Academy83%
#5Hayes School79%
#6Sherwell Valley Primary School75%
#7Lift Barton Hill74%
#8Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School73%
#9Ellacombe Church of England Academy71%
#10Eden Park Primary & Nursery School70%
=11Oldway Primary School66%
=11Shiphay Learning Academy66%
#13Furzeham Primary School63%
#14Curledge Street Academy62%
=15Kings Ash Academy60%
=15Preston Primary School60%
#17Brixham Church of England Primary School58%
=18Homelands Primary School57%
=18Roselands Primary School57%
#20Sacred Heart Catholic School55%
#21St Margaret's Academy54%
=22All Saints Babbacombe CofE Primary School53%
=22St Marychurch Church of England Primary and Nursery School53%
#24White Rock Primary School51%
#25Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary School50%
#26Cockington Primary School46%
#27Priory Roman Catholic Primary School, Torquay44%
#28Watcombe Primary School37%
#29Upton St James CofE Primary School36%
#30St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School29%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,908 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

10th of 31 primary schools in Torbay for spending per pupil

#8Hayes School£7,166
#9Lift Barton Hill£7,143
#10Upton St James CofE Primary School£6,908
#11St Margaret's Academy£6,884
#12Curledge Street Academy£6,763

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School£9,847
#2Homelands Primary School£8,170
#3Watcombe Primary School£8,080
#4Kings Ash Academy£7,814
#5Ilsham Church of England Academy£7,611
#6Priory Roman Catholic Primary School, Torquay£7,281
#7Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary School£7,192
#8Hayes School£7,166
#9Lift Barton Hill£7,143
#10Upton St James CofE Primary School£6,908
#11St Margaret's Academy£6,884
#12Curledge Street Academy£6,763
#13Sacred Heart Catholic School£6,703
#14St Michael's Church of England Academy£6,662
#15Ellacombe Church of England Academy£6,651
#16Preston Primary School£6,650
#17Cockington Primary School£6,640
#18Eden Park Primary & Nursery School£6,558
#19Shiphay Learning Academy£6,503
#20Brixham Church of England Primary School£6,486
#21Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School£6,291
#22Roselands Primary School£6,274
#23White Rock Primary School£6,258
#24Torre Church of England Academy£5,844
#25Sherwell Valley Primary School£5,781
#26St Marychurch Church of England Primary and Nursery School£5,726
#27Galmpton Church of England Primary School£5,629
#28Oldway Primary School£5,628
#29Furzeham Primary School£5,454
#30All Saints Babbacombe CofE Primary School£5,142
#31Warberry CofE Academy£4,645

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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