Southbrook School
Bishop Westall Road, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 6JB
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Foundation special school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SENtient Trust
- Headteacher
- Mr Simon Winward
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Exeter
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 120
- Pupils on roll
- 140
- URN
- 113634
- Local authority
- Devon
- Telephone
- 01392716900
About this school
Southbrook School is a foundation special school in Exeter. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 140 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 29 | 30 | 29 |
| Attainment 8 score | 0.4 | - | 0.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.72 -2.27 to -1.17 | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | - | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | - | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | - | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.0 | - | 0.0 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Southbrook School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Devon average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.4 | 36.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | — | 36.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 0.2 | 33.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 144 |
| 2023/24 | 144 |
| 2024/25 | 139 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 43.88%
- English as an additional language
- 0.7%
- Overall absence
- 6.87%
- Persistent absence
- 20.57%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Infocus College0.3 miles
Other types · Exeter
-
Devon Hospitals' Short Stay School0.8 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Exeter
-
Atkinson Secure Children's Home1.0 miles
Other types · Exeter
-
Exeter School1.1 miles
Independent schools · Exeter
-
Magdalen Court School1.1 miles
Special schools · Exeter
Other schools in Exeter
- Atkinson Secure Children's Home Other types
- Barley Lane School Special schools
- Belong School Devon Special schools
- Devon Hospitals' Short Stay School Local authority maintained schools
- Ellen Tinkham School Special schools
- Infocus College Other types
- Magdalen Court School Special schools
- Stansfield Academy Academies
- The Outdoors School Special schools
- Torlands Academy Academies
- Vranch House School Special schools
- Chestnut Nursery School - Exeter Nursery Schools Federation Nursery
Common questions
- What year groups does Southbrook School teach?
- Southbrook School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a special school in Exeter.
- Who is the headteacher of Southbrook School?
- The headteacher of Southbrook School is Mr Simon Winward, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Southbrook School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Southbrook School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Southbrook School?
- Southbrook School has 140 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Southbrook School full?
- Southbrook School has capacity for 120 pupils and 140 on roll (117%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Southbrook School a faith school?
- No. Southbrook School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Southbrook School?
- Southbrook School is part of SENtient Trust. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Southbrook School have?
- The schools register lists Southbrook School's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Southbrook School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 0.4 in 2022/23 and 0.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Southbrook School's absence rate?
- Southbrook School's overall absence rate is 6.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Southbrook School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Southbrook School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.