South Devon UTC
Kingsteignton Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 2QA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- University technical college
- Ages
- 14 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- EDUCATION SOUTH WEST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Claire Plumb
- Sponsor
- Education South West
- Constituency
- Newton Abbot
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 600
- Pupils on roll
- 184
- URN
- 141749
- Local authority
- Devon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01626240201
About this school
South Devon UTC is a secondary school in Newton Abbot. It teaches children aged 14 to 19 and has 184 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 42 | 62 | 66 |
| Attainment 8 score | 21.2 | 29.6 | 25.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.83 -2.28 to -1.39 | -1.29 -1.65 to -0.94 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 7% | 17.7% | 10.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 17% | 33.9% | 27.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 1.6 | 2.3 | 2.0 |
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 South Devon UTC 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 | 21.2 | 36.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 29.6 | 36.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 25.7 | 33.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 23.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 18.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 18% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 157 |
| 2023/24 | 193 |
| 2024/25 | 193 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How South Devon UTC compares
South Devon UTC ranked 40th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 20% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 1% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 25.7 | 18% | 35.5% | 184 | — |
| Newton Abbot College | 40.5 | 9.9% | 25.3% | 1,108 | 0.4 miles |
| Coombeshead Academy | 46.8 | 9.9% | 26.8% | 870 | 0.6 miles |
| Teign School | 44.7 | 9.8% | 20.8% | 1,111 | 1.4 miles |
| Torquay Boys' Grammar School | 70.8 | 4.2% | 5.9% | 1,087 | 4.5 miles |
| Torquay Girls' Grammar School | 68.6 | 5.2% | 5.5% | 1,058 | 4.5 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report10 February 2026
- 5 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 35.46%
- English as an additional language
- 2.1%
- Overall absence
- 18.01%
- Persistent absence
- 51.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Newton Abbot College0.4 miles
Secondary · Newton Abbot
-
Coombeshead Academy0.6 miles
Secondary · Newton Abbot
-
Teign School1.4 miles
Secondary · Newton Abbot
-
Torquay Boys' Grammar School4.5 miles
Secondary · Torquay
-
Torquay Girls' Grammar School4.5 miles
Secondary · Torquay
Other schools in Newton Abbot
- Coombeshead Academy Secondary
- Newton Abbot College Secondary
- Teign School Secondary
- Abbotskerswell Primary School Primary
- All Saints Marsh CofE Academy Primary
- Ashburton Primary School Primary
- Bearnes Voluntary Primary School Primary
- Blackpool Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bovey Tracey Academy Primary
- Bradley Barton Primary School and Nursery Unit Primary
- Canada Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Chagford Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does South Devon UTC teach?
- South Devon UTC teaches children aged 14 to 19. It is a secondary school in Newton Abbot.
- Who is the headteacher of South Devon UTC?
- The headteacher of South Devon UTC is Mrs Claire Plumb, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was South Devon UTC last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected South Devon UTC, 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 South Devon UTC?
- South Devon UTC has 184 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 14 to 19.
- Is South Devon UTC full?
- South Devon UTC has capacity for 600 pupils and 184 on roll (31%), 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 Devon UTC a faith school?
- No. South Devon UTC has no designated religious character.
- Who runs South Devon UTC?
- South Devon UTC is part of EDUCATION SOUTH WEST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have South Devon UTC's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 21.2 in 2022/23 and 25.7 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 Devon UTC rank locally?
- South Devon UTC ranked 40th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 20% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 1% 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 Devon UTC's absence rate?
- South Devon UTC's overall absence rate is 18% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are South Devon UTC's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, South Devon UTC'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.