Care home · Plymouth
The Old School House Care Home
Illustrative photo, not of The Old School House Care Home- Address
- 38 Merafield Road, Plymouth, PL7 1TL
- Run by
- The Old School House Care Home (South West) Ltd
- Type of provider
- Independent (private company)
- Service
- Residential care home
- Beds
- 36 (registered with CQC)
- Nursing care
- No, residential care only (CQC registration)
- Dementia
- Registered with CQC to support people living with dementia
- Registered with CQC
- September 2024 (2 years)
- Registered manager
- *
- Company check
- Active, trading since 2010 (16 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 07239882)
- Last CQC check
- 4 Aug 2026
- Typical fees Estimated
- £1,370–£1,680 a week for residential care (dementia). Our figure, worked out from published prices in the region; the real price may differ. How we estimate
CQC regulated activities: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care
More in Sherford: Care homes in Sherford (21) · Best rated care homes in Sherford · Care homes for dementia care in Sherford · Care homes for elderly care in Sherford · Care homes for physical disability care in Sherford
Full report at cqc.org.uk · CQC location ID 1-19832693995
About The Old School House Care Home
Registered with CQC as a residential care home, The Old School House Care Home is based in Plymouth, run by The Old School House Care Home (South West) Ltd. It supports older people, with registered specialisms in dementia, physical disabilities and mental health conditions.
Its latest CQC rating is Requires improvement overall (August 2026). Safe, Effective and Well-led were rated Requires improvement. It is one of 21 CQC-registered care homes in and around Sherford; 17 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
How long it has been running
CQC registration dates from September 2024, so the service has been operating for around 2 years under its current registration.
CQC has published 2 overall ratings for it (2025–2026), starting at Requires Improvement; it has gone up 0 and down 0 times, and is now Requires improvement.
The ratings in context
Looking at the five areas: Safe, Effective and Well-led are rated below Good; 2 other areas are Good.
Across Plymouth, 15 of 85 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Safe (18%), while 15 of 85 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Effective (18%), while 20 of 85 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Well-led (24%).
If you are considering it, read the Safe, Effective and Well-led section of the report first and ask what has changed since the inspection.
What inspectors found
- The assessment was carried out in response to concerns raised about safety, medicines and leadership.
- At our last assessment the provider was in breach of 2 legal regulations in relation to premises and equipment and good governance.
- At this assessment shortfalls remained, which meant the provider had not taken sufficient action to ensure consistent standards of quality and safety across the service.
- People said they felt, “very comfortable” and that staff respected their preferences, such as keeping their bedroom door open.
Supporting 22 people at the time. Source: CQC's published findings, reused under the Open Government Licence. Read the full report.
The local picture
Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other care homes are all within 3 miles, 21 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is Merafield View Nursing Home, under 0.5 miles away.
It is registered for needs that fewer services nearby cover: mental health conditions (5 of the nearest 25).
1 of the 25 nearest rated care homes has a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Plympton Erle ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 40% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Devon ICB.
Within about a 10-minute walk there is a pharmacy (9 min), a shop (6 min), a café (10 min) and a bus stop (2 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.
Specialisms
As listed with the regulator.
CQC ratings, area by area
- Safe15 of 85 in Plymouth
- Effective15 of 85 in Plymouth
- Caring66 of 85 in Plymouth
- Responsive71 of 85 in Plymouth
- Well-led20 of 85 in Plymouth
Ratings from CQC's most recent report, published 4 August 2026. Under each rating: how many care homes in Plymouth share it.
What it may cost
We estimate The Old School House Care Home at £1,370–£1,680 a week for residential care (dementia), based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £71k–£87k.
Get the extras in writing: items such as hairdressing and outings are usually charged on top.
With savings below £23,250, Plymouth Council may contribute once it has carried out a free needs assessment.
Kitchen hygiene rating
The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 4 (good), from an inspection on 10 March 2026 by Plymouth City. Meals matter in a care home: ask to see a menu and whether residents can choose.
From the Food Standards Agency (listed as "The Old School House Care Home"). Open Government Licence.
Location and local area
- Ward
- Plympton Erle
- Council
- Plymouth City Council · paying for care
- Parliamentary constituency
- South West Devon
- Local NHS (ICB)
- NHS Devon Integrated Care Board
- Setting
- Urban (nearer to a major town or city)
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 40% least deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Care homes in PL7 (12)
See the wider area · Route planner · Base map © OpenStreetMap
Close by
- Bus stop 150 m (2 min walk) · 7 stops within 600 m
- Railway station Marsh Mills, 1.7 km
- GP surgery Glenside Medical Centre, 1.3 km (16 min walk)
- Pharmacy Well Pharmacy, 740 m (9 min walk)
- Shop Tesco Express, 500 m (6 min walk)
- Park 980 m (12 min walk)
- Café Mollie's Coffee Shop, 760 m (10 min walk)
- Place of worship St Mary's Church, 470 m (6 min walk)
- Library Plympton Library, 630 m (8 min walk)
Nearest of each type, measured in a straight line using OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL). If a resident uses a wheelchair or frame, check the route itself.
Ward, NHS area and deprivation from ONS and NHS postcode data (postcodes.io, Open Government Licence).
The company behind The Old School House Care Home
The Old School House Care Home is run by The Old School House Care Home (south West) Ltd (company 07239882), incorporated in 2010, 14 years before this service registered with CQC.
At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 2 active directors and there is no insolvency history.
Its registered business activity is nursing care.
Family reviews
Nobody has reviewed The Old School House Care Home here yet. Have you used it? A short, honest review helps the next family decide.
We check every review against a working email address and publish positive and negative ones alike; providers can reply but cannot remove them. Reviews are separate from CQC ratings. How reviews work.
The Old School House Care Home against its area
- Rated Requires improvement. Across Plymouth, 79% of the 85 rated care homes are Good or Outstanding and 9 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (August 2026) is more recent than 96% of care home ratings in Plymouth.
- With 36 beds it is larger than 69% of care homes in Plymouth, where the typical home has 24.
- Registered with CQC in 2024: it has been registered longer than 8% of care homes in the area.
- It lists 4 specialisms with CQC; the typical care home in Plymouth lists 3.
- Areas CQC rated below Good: Safe (20% of care homes in Plymouth are also rated below Good here); Effective (19% of care homes in Plymouth are also rated below Good here); Well-led (25% of care homes in Plymouth are also rated below Good here). Ask the provider what has changed since.
Benchmarked against all CQC-registered care homes in Plymouth (Oct 2026).
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Frequently asked about The Old School House Care Home
- Is The Old School House Care Home regulated by the Care Quality Commission?
- The Old School House Care Home is on the CQC register as a care home (ID 1-19832693995) and was rated Requires improvement overall in August 2026.
- Where is The Old School House Care Home based?
- It is at 38 Merafield Road, Plymouth, PL7 1TL.
- What type of care does The Old School House Care Home provide?
- Registration for The Old School House Care Home covers: residential homes. Check which of these it offers today.
- When was The Old School House Care Home last inspected?
- CQC published the current rating on 4 August 2026. Older ratings are common, so ask about changes since.
- Is The Old School House Care Home registered for dementia care?
- Yes, it is registered for dementia. Worth asking: how many staff are trained, and how routines are kept consistent.
- Who runs The Old School House Care Home?
- On CQC's register the provider is The Old School House Care Home (South West) Ltd.
- How big is The Old School House Care Home?
- The Old School House Care Home has 36 registered places. Ask how many are free now and which rooms have en-suites.
- Is The Old School House Care Home rated well for safety?
- By key question, CQC gave: Safe: Requires improvement; Effective: Requires improvement; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Requires improvement. Safe and Well-led are the sections most worth your time.
- What are The Old School House Care Home's fees?
- The Old School House Care Home's prices aren't on our site yet. Residential care home typically costs £1,445 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in South West). A written quote should spell out weekend, bank holiday and short-notice rates.
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Details from the Care Quality Commission register, updated Oct 2026. Contains CQC data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Text marked "in the provider's own words" is supplied by the provider. The Care Panel is not a care provider.