South Dartmoor Community College
Balland Lane, Ashburton, TQ13 7EW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- WESTCOUNTRY SCHOOLS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Jen Veal
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Westcountry Schools Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Central Devon
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,708
- Pupils on roll
- 801
- URN
- 136569
- Local authority
- Devon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01364652230
About this school
South Dartmoor Community College is a secondary academy in Ashburton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 801 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected South Dartmoor Community College, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 166 | 115 | 120 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.5 | 44.1 | 47.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.12 -0.10 to +0.34 | +0.06 -0.21 to +0.32 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 41.7% | 51.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 62.6% | 67.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 19% | 20% | 16.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.1 |
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 South Dartmoor Community College 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 | 47.5 | 36.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.1 | 36.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.7 | 33.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 821 |
| 2023/24 | 799 |
| 2024/25 | 795 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How South Dartmoor Community College compares
South Dartmoor Community College ranked 10th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 68% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47.7 | 10% | 22.8% | 801 | — |
| Coombeshead Academy | 46.8 | 9.9% | 26.8% | 870 | 5.6 miles |
| Newton Abbot College | 40.5 | 9.9% | 25.3% | 1,108 | 5.8 miles |
| South Devon UTC | 25.7 | 18% | 35.5% | 184 | 6.2 miles |
| King Edward VI Community College | 44.6 | 10.4% | 23.8% | 940 | 6.4 miles |
| Teign School | 44.7 | 9.8% | 20.8% | 1,111 | 6.6 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 22.83%
- English as an additional language
- 1.9%
- Overall absence
- 10%
- Persistent absence
- 26.16%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Coombeshead Academy5.6 miles
Secondary · Newton Abbot
-
Newton Abbot College5.8 miles
Secondary · Newton Abbot
-
South Devon UTC6.2 miles
Secondary · Newton Abbot
-
King Edward VI Community College6.4 miles
Secondary · Totnes
-
Teign School6.6 miles
Secondary · Newton Abbot
Common questions
- What ages does South Dartmoor Community College teach?
- South Dartmoor Community College teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ashburton.
- Who is the headteacher of South Dartmoor Community College?
- The headteacher of South Dartmoor Community College is Mrs Jen Veal, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has South Dartmoor Community College been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected South Dartmoor Community College, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at South Dartmoor Community College?
- South Dartmoor Community College has 801 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is South Dartmoor Community College full?
- South Dartmoor Community College has capacity for 1,708 pupils and 801 on roll (47%), so it has space against 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 South Dartmoor Community College a faith school?
- No. South Dartmoor Community College has no designated religious character.
- Is South Dartmoor Community College a selective school?
- No. South Dartmoor Community College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is South Dartmoor Community College part of an academy trust?
- South Dartmoor Community College is part of WESTCOUNTRY SCHOOLS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does South Dartmoor Community College have?
- The schools register lists South Dartmoor Community College's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have South Dartmoor Community College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.5 in 2022/23 and 47.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does South Dartmoor Community College compare with other schools in Devon?
- South Dartmoor Community College ranked 10th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 68% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is South Dartmoor Community College's absence rate?
- South Dartmoor Community College's overall absence rate is 10% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are South Dartmoor Community College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, South Dartmoor Community College'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 1 July 2026.