Paignton Academy
Waterleat Road, Paignton, TQ3 3WA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Derwyn Williams
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Thinking Schools Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Torbay
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,590
- Pupils on roll
- 1,568
- URN
- 138863
- Local authority
- Torbay
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01803403005
About this school
Paignton Academy is a secondary academy in Paignton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,568 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Paignton Academy, 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 255 | 225 | 264 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.9 | 37.5 | 36.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.30 -0.48 to -0.13 | -0.63 -0.82 to -0.45 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 20% | 26.7% | 24.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 47% | 46.7% | 41.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 8% | 8.4% | 8.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.0 |
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 Paignton Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Torbay average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.9 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37.5 | 36.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 36.9 | 38.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,461 |
| 2023/24 | 1,528 |
| 2024/25 | 1,582 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Paignton Academy compares
Paignton Academy ranked 7th of 8 secondary schools in Torbay for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36.9 | 11.4% | 33.6% | 1,568 | — |
| Churston Ferrers Grammar School Academy | 71.2 | 5.8% | 9.5% | 1,062 | 2.6 miles |
| Torquay Boys' Grammar School | 70.8 | 4.2% | 5.9% | 1,087 | 3.4 miles |
| Torquay Girls' Grammar School | 68.6 | 5.2% | 5.5% | 1,058 | 3.5 miles |
| Torquay Academy | 47.6 | 10.1% | 31.3% | 1,472 | 3.9 miles |
| The Spires College | 44.5 | 8.6% | 30.8% | 1,154 | 4.2 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)
- 33.63%
- English as an additional language
- 6.6%
- Overall absence
- 11.36%
- Persistent absence
- 29.51%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Churston Ferrers Grammar School Academy2.6 miles
Secondary · Brixham
-
Torquay Boys' Grammar School3.4 miles
Secondary · Torquay
-
Torquay Girls' Grammar School3.5 miles
Secondary · Torquay
-
Torquay Academy3.9 miles
Secondary · Torquay
-
The Spires College4.2 miles
Secondary · Torquay
Other schools in Paignton
- Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary School Primary
- Curledge Street Academy Primary
- Hayes School Primary
- Kings Ash Academy Primary
- Marldon Church of England Primary School Primary
- Oldway Primary School Primary
- Roselands Primary School Primary
- Sacred Heart Catholic School Primary
- St Michael's Church of England Academy Primary
- White Rock Primary School Primary
- South Devon College 16 plus
- Brunel School Academies
Common questions
- What ages does Paignton Academy teach?
- Paignton Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Paignton.
- Who is the headteacher of Paignton Academy?
- The headteacher of Paignton Academy is Mr Derwyn Williams, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Paignton Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Paignton Academy, 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 Paignton Academy?
- Paignton Academy has 1,568 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Paignton Academy full?
- Paignton Academy has capacity for 1,590 pupils and 1,568 on roll (99%), 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 Paignton Academy a faith school?
- No. Paignton Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Paignton Academy a selective school?
- No. Paignton Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Paignton Academy part of an academy trust?
- Paignton Academy is part of THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Paignton Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.9 in 2022/23 and 36.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Paignton Academy compare with other schools in Torbay?
- Paignton Academy ranked 7th of 8 secondary schools in Torbay for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Paignton Academy's absence rate?
- Paignton Academy's overall absence rate is 11.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Paignton Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Paignton Academy'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.