SchoolFacts.uk

St Aldhelms Church School

Primary · Shepton Mallet · BA4 4PL

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Requires improvement

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: Requires improvementBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: GoodLeadership & management: Requires improvementSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 3 November 2021

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

176 pupils · 84% of 210 capacity

School type
Academy converter
Age range
2–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England
Free school meals
13.3% of pupils
English as additional language
10.8% of pupils
SEN support
11.4% of pupils
EHC plan
3.6% of pupils
Nursery
Yes
Website
www.staldhelms.co.uk/
URN
150030

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.96 first-choice applications per place

25 places offered · 24 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

24/25
25/26
26/27

Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE. A ratio above 1.00 means more families named this school first choice than there were places.

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

22 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
64%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
5%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
105
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
102
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Schools with a similar intake

Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025

This school64%
Median of its 12 closest peers63%
Somerset average60.5%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is in line with the schools that teach a comparable intake.

The twelve below are matched on intake alone, from every state school in England, so most are not local. They are the evidence behind the comparison above, not a shortlist. For schools you could realistically apply to, see nearby schools.

SchoolOfstedResult
St John's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, ColchesterCOLCHESTER · 156 miles awayGood72%
St Michael's Woolmer Green CofE VA Primary SchoolWoolmer Green · 110 miles awayGood82%
Enfield Academy of New WalthamGrimsby · 191 miles awayGood50%
Dorney SchoolMaidenhead · 82 miles awayGood50%
The Bishop William Ward Church of England Primary SchoolColchester · 154 miles awayGood63%
Widmer End Community Combined SchoolHigh Wycombe · 84 miles awayGood74%
Bourn CofE Primary AcademyCambridge · 125 miles awayGood63%
High Meadow Community SchoolColeshill · 97 miles awayGood47%
Hermitage Primary SchoolThatcham · 57 miles awayGood60%
John Hellins Primary SchoolTowcester · 93 miles awayOutstanding93%
Baschurch CofE Primary SchoolShrewsbury · 112 miles awayGood71%
Lytham Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolLytham St. Annes · 178 miles awayRequires improvement55%

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one: same phase and admissions type, and as near as the data allows on size, free school meals, English as an additional language, SEN and the child poverty of the surrounding area (IDACI 2025). Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable: sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and plain geography all matter and are not in the calculation. Results: DfE performance tables, 2024/2025. How the matching works.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
4.5%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
9.5%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
24.1
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

100% of teachers stayed at the school the following year

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Spending per pupil

This school£5,772
Typical primary school£6,959

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, academy finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
8/10less deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher32.9%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications16.9%18.1%
In managerial or professional work35%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways12.3%18.1%
Residents in very good health48.9%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier82.4%62.3%
Social housing4.1%17.1%
Privately rented13.5%20.5%
Detached houses59.8%22.9%
Flats0.6%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms36.4%21.1%
Households with no car or van3.7%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01029021 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,051 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£375,00011 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£297,500–£385,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Terraced (5)£315,000

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
0a rural school averages 0.3
Collisions at school-run times
0a rural school averages 0.7
All reported collisions
4a rural school averages 3.4
Of those, serious or fatal
2a rural school averages 0.9

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other rural schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Nearby schools