St Pauls CofE VA Primary School, Cambridge

Ofsted's report card from its 13 January 2026 inspection grades St Pauls CofE VA Primary School on 7 areas: 6 expected standard and 1 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Pupils enjoy attending school and most do so regularly."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have designed a curriculum that, overall, supports pupils to secure their understanding of important knowledge."

Early years - Expected standard. "Leaders have designed a curriculum that supports children to be well prepared for Year 1."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders know the barriers pupils face that prevent them from learning effectively."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders have a clear and realistic understanding of the school."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "The school has put in place a clear programme for personal development."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Some pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, struggle to apply their knowledge of vocabulary and different sentence structures when they write."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "• Leaders need to ensure that teaching supports pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, to apply their knowledge of different vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar, punctuation and spelling more consistently into their written work. • Leaders need to ensure they provide staff in the early years with the ongoing support and guidance they need to fully maximise opportunities to deepen children's language and vocabulary. • Leaders, including governors, need to ensure their monitoring of newly introduced initiatives provides them with the information they need to identify where to adapt the planned professional development programme for staff".

From the headteacher's welcome: "Remember that our door is always open to prospective parents if you would like to visit, and existing parents if you have any queries. St. Paul's is located in the heart of central Cambridge close to the city centre."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, chess, coding, eco club and journalism.

The school runs a breakfast club from 7:30am and after-school care.

In 2025, 83% of Year 6 pupils at St Pauls CofE VA Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 62% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 76% and 74% in Cambridgeshire and 77% and 75% across England.

Results fell from 91% in reading and 78% in maths in 2024.

With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.

For September 2026 entry, 6 families put St Pauls CofE VA Primary School as their first choice and 42 named it as one of their preferences, for 13 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state primary schools to St Pauls CofE VA Primary School are St Alban's Catholic Primary School (under 0.1 miles, 90% reading, 93% maths); St Matthew's Primary School (0.6 miles, Good, 82% reading, 88% maths); Newnham Croft Primary School (0.7 miles, Good, 97% reading, 94% maths); and Park Street CofE Primary School (1 mile, Good, 89% reading, 89% maths).

Each of them had higher 2025 results than St Pauls CofE VA Primary School.

47 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about St Pauls CofE VA Primary School (as of April 2026): 96% would recommend the school, 96% say their child is happy there and 25% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (96%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (25%).

28.9% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (35%), Mixed (17%) and other ethnic groups (6%).

In 2026, 26 pupils (17.1%) received SEN support and 3 (2%) 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 social, emotional and mental health needs.

St Pauls CofE VA Primary School had 10 teachers in 2026, one for every 15 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical primary school, at about one for every 20.

The nearest railway station is Cambridge Rail Station, about 750 metres away (roughly a 9-minute walk).

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St Paul's Road (opposite), 160 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 773 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Cambridgeshire (57), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, St Pauls CofE VA Primary School issued 11 suspensions, 7.2 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The secondary schools closest to St Pauls CofE VA Primary School are Parkside Community College (0.5 miles), Coleridge Community College (1.1 miles), Trumpington Community College (1.1 miles) and St Bede's Inter-Church School (1.6 miles).