The King's School
Cadhay Lane, Ottery St Mary, EX11 1RA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE KING'S SCHOOL OTTERY ST MARY
- Headteacher
- Mr Rob Gammon
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Honiton and Sidmouth
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,150
- Pupils on roll
- 1,097
- URN
- 136673
- Local authority
- Devon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01404812982
About this school
The King's School is a secondary academy in Ottery St Mary. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,097 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The King's School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 181 | 174 | 178 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.7 | 53.1 | 51.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.31 +0.10 to +0.52 | +0.34 +0.13 to +0.56 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 61% | 55.7% | 55.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 80% | 76.4% | 78.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 27% | 21.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
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 The King's 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 | 52.7 | 36.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 53.1 | 36.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.9 | 33.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,115 |
| 2023/24 | 1,109 |
| 2024/25 | 1,108 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The King's School compares
The King's School ranked 7th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.9 | 8.3% | 14.9% | 1,097 | — |
| Sidmouth College | 45.9 | 7.7% | 23.8% | 825 | 4.5 miles |
| Honiton Community College | 40.4 | 11.7% | 23% | 637 | 5.7 miles |
| Clyst Vale Community College | 44.5 | 9.1% | 23% | 944 | 6.5 miles |
| Cullompton Community College | 45.1 | 10.6% | 18.6% | 746 | 8.3 miles |
| St Luke's Church of England School | 45.3 | 11.3% | 30.4% | 870 | 8.3 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)
- 14.86%
- English as an additional language
- 2.3%
- Overall absence
- 8.34%
- Persistent absence
- 19.52%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sidmouth College4.5 miles
Secondary · Sidmouth
-
Honiton Community College5.7 miles
Secondary · Honiton
-
Clyst Vale Community College6.5 miles
Secondary · Exeter
-
Cullompton Community College8.3 miles
Secondary · Cullompton
-
St Luke's Church of England School8.3 miles
Secondary · Exeter
Other schools in Ottery St Mary
- Ottery St Mary Primary School Primary
- West Hill Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The King's School teach?
- The King's School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ottery St Mary.
- Who is the headteacher of The King's School?
- The headteacher of The King's School is Mr Rob Gammon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The King's School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The King's 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 many pupils are at The King's School?
- The King's School has 1,097 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The King's School full?
- The King's School has capacity for 1,150 pupils and 1,097 on roll (95%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The King's School a faith school?
- No. The King's School has no designated religious character.
- Is The King's School a selective school?
- No. The King's School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The King's School part of an academy trust?
- The King's School is part of THE KING'S SCHOOL OTTERY ST MARY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The King's School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52.7 in 2022/23 and 51.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The King's School compare with other schools in Devon?
- The King's School ranked 7th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The King's School's absence rate?
- The King's School's overall absence rate is 8.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The King's School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The King's 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 1 July 2026.