St Nicholas Catholic Primary School, Exeter
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School is a primary school for pupils aged 3 to 11 in Exeter, part of Plymouth Cast. It has a Roman Catholic religious character. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in November 2018. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in September 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 43rd-highest of the 48 schools in Exeter with published results, and 11,866th of 14,452 across England. It was 94% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2018)
- Demand
- Every first choice offered
- Attendance
- In line with England
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 81 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Devon (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School in detail
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School in its own words
The school runs a breakfast club from 7:45am and after-school care.
Wraparound care (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 64% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 77% and 73% in Devon and 77% and 75% across England.
Results rose from 59% in reading and 59% in maths in 2024.
Getting a place at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
For September 2026 entry, 19 families put St Nicholas Catholic Primary School as their first choice and 36 named it as one of their preferences, for 31 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.
Admissions history and your chances at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to St Nicholas Catholic Primary School are Whipton Barton Junior School (0.5 miles, Good, 80% reading, 78% maths); Whipton Barton Infants and Nursery School (0.6 miles, Good); Woodwater Academy (0.6 miles, Good, 76% reading, 84% maths); and Clyst Heath Nursery and Community Primary School (0.8 miles, 73% reading, 63% maths).
Each of them had higher 2025 results than St Nicholas Catholic Primary School.
Whipton Barton Junior SchoolWhipton Barton Infants and Nursery SchoolWoodwater AcademyClyst Heath Nursery and Community Primary School
The trust
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School is one of 34 schools run by Plymouth Cast, an academy trust.
Across the trust's primary schools, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.
What parents say
45 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about St Nicholas Catholic Primary School (as of September 2025): 58% would recommend the school, 80% say their child is happy there and 20% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (80%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (20%).
Who goes there
In 2026, 61 pupils (22.7%) received SEN support and 12 (4.5%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Digby & Sowton Rail Station, about 0.8 miles away in a straight line.
17 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Bramley Avenue (sw-bound), 40 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood St Nicholas Catholic Primary School stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. On income deprivation affecting children it is in the 6th decile, where the 1st is the most deprived. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
In August 2026, police recorded 232 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and public order offences. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Devon (16), as is usual near a town centre.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, St Nicholas Catholic Primary School issued 24 suspensions, 7.4 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to St Nicholas Catholic Primary School are St Peter's Church of England Aided School (0.4 miles), St Luke's Church of England School (0.6 miles), St James School (1.1 miles) and Isca Academy (1.6 miles).
St Peter's Church of England Aided SchoolSt Luke's Church of England SchoolSt James SchoolIsca Academy
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE multi-academy trust performance data; Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from November 2018, 7 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted's report, in its own words
What is it like to attend this school?
Pupils at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School are friendly and welcoming. They attend well. The school is emerging from an unsettling time. There have been significant changes to leadership and staffing. The school recognises that the curriculum needs strengthening and has made a positive start. However, an ambitious curriculum is not yet securely in place. As a result, the quality of education that pupils receive is not yet good.
The personal development of pupils is a strength of the school and is informed by its distinctive values. Pupils appreciate the rewards they receive for demonstrating these values. Pupils sometimes join the school mid-year. Each new pupil gets the help they need to settle in swiftly. Pupils are safe. They are confident that if they have any worries or concerns, staff will help them sort these out. However, behaviour expectations are not commonly understood. As a result, some pupils do not have positive attitudes towards their education.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
There is an ambitious vision in place, but the impact of this is not yet realised. The school has made many positive changes to the curriculum. However, there is still significant work to do to ensure that pupils benefit from them. In many subjects, the curriculum is not yet fully developed or implemented. Consequently, pupils are not supported well enough to build up their subject knowledge. Pupils lose focus and motivation to study when the curriculum is not well structured or well taught.
In some subjects, such as mathematics, the curriculum sets out the essential knowledge that pupils need to learn and the order in which they do so. However, not all staff have the expertise to teach the curriculum effectively. In addition, regular checks are not made on how well pupils understand the curriculum. Therefore, some pupils move on to new learning with gaps in their knowledge still present. Opportunities to revisit important knowledge are limited.
From Ofsted's September 2024 ungraded inspection report: the opening paragraphs of each section, quoted word for word. Read the full report Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Ofsted Insights
Ofsted rated this school Good at its November 2018 inspection - unchanged since its previous inspection.
Rated Good for
Leadership & management.
At a Glance
21.6%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
45 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has improved from 59% to 66% (2024 to 2025). Maths has improved from 59% to 64% (2024 to 2025). Writing has declined from 62% to 45% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
23.1
Avg class size
8
Total classes
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Latest from St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
Newsletter 2nd October 2026
2 Oct 2026
Newsletter 21st September 2026
21 Sep 2026
Newsletter 22nd July 2026
22 Jul 2026
Newsletter 10th July 2026
10 Jul 2026
Newsletter 26th June 2026
26 Jun 2026
From St Nicholas Catholic Primary School's website. School Signal is not affiliated with the school.
Social & online
Keep up with St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
Before and after school care
Clubs on Ofsted's childcare register at or near St Nicholas Catholic Primary School.
- Wraparound @ Whipton Barton960m away · Not yet graded
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to St Nicholas Catholic Primary School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. St Nicholas Catholic Primary School is in Devon; for families living there:
- Devon's school travel policy: Free school transport
- How to apply: Apply for free school transport
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 21
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 4
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 21 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 4 serious and 17 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
5 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Devon is 3 (the median across 426 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
Will you get a place at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against St Nicholas Catholic Primary School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for St Nicholas Catholic Primary School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to St Nicholas Catholic Primary School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Devon, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Devon got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
94%
Near capacity
281 pupils
300 places
19 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Exeter
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Exeter
Across Devon council
Places available
9,014
Applications
6,494
Got 1st preference
96.5%
Got preferred school
99.1%
All primary applications across Devon council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(3)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
61
SEN Support
12
EHC Plans
27.1%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
269
Total Pupils
153
Boys
116
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
17
Teachers
15.8:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£45,898
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£5,269
Per pupil
£1745k
Total funding
£77k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
5.2%
Overall absence
12.3%
Persistent absence
268
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
Questions parents ask about St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
What are SATs results like at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School?
Of the pupils at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 66% reached the expected standard in reading and 64% did so in maths.
What is St Nicholas Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in September 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in November 2018, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for St Nicholas Catholic Primary School?
No fixed boundary. When St Nicholas Catholic Primary School is oversubscribed, Devon allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School?
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School was not full in 2025: it ran at 94% of its 300 places.
How big are the classes at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School?
Classes at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School average 23.1 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to St Nicholas Catholic Primary School?
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School has around 269 pupils on roll. 22% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School?
5.2% of sessions were missed at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School in 2024/25. 12.3% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to St Nicholas Catholic Primary School?
Apply through Devon's coordinated admissions process, naming St Nicholas Catholic Primary School on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
Does St Nicholas Catholic Primary School have a breakfast club or after-school club?
Ofsted's childcare register lists an out-of-school club within a kilometre of St Nicholas Catholic Primary School: Wraparound @ Whipton Barton (960m away, registered, not yet graded). The school may also run its own clubs, which don't have to register with Ofsted.
How many road collisions happen near St Nicholas Catholic Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 21 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 4 serious and 17 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot and 1 on a bicycle. 5 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Devon is 3 (the median across 426 schools, same distance and years).
Where is St Nicholas Catholic Primary School?
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School is at Ringswell Avenue, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3EG.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)