A WEST Devon primary school is celebrating after being named as the second best in the South West and in the top 40 in Britain according to a recently published national guide.

St Andrew's Primary School in Buckland Monachorum was ranked highly in the annual Sunday Times Schools Guide — a list of the top 600 state primary and independent preparatory schools in Britain, based on the school's recent SATS results.

The guide, published last week, ranked St Andrew's 40th overall and second in the South West to a primary school in Somerset, with results of 86% of pupils achieving level 5 in reading, 72% achieving level 5 in grammar, 62% achieving level 5 in writing and 86% achieving level 5 in maths.

Deputy head teacher at the school Justin Jones said: 'We knew we would be on the list but we didn't know we would come that high.

'It is a great status to have and we are very proud of it.

'We are absolutely delighted with our performance — it's a testimony to everyone involved in the school community.'

The list can be viewed by searching 'The Sunday Times top 600 schools' on Google.