Axe Valley Academy
Chard Street, Axminster, EX13 5EA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- BLACKDOWN EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mr Robert Crocker
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Blackdown Education Partnership
- Constituency
- Honiton and Sidmouth
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 750
- Pupils on roll
- 741
- URN
- 144392
- Local authority
- Devon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 0129732146
About this school
Axe Valley Academy is a secondary academy in Axminster. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 741 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- 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 | 107 | 115 | 138 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.8 | 40.2 | 39.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.22 -0.05 to +0.49 | -0.40 -0.67 to -0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 36.5% | 30.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 65.2% | 58% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 31% | 21.7% | 28.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
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 Axe Valley 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 | Devon average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.8 | 36.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.2 | 36.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.2 | 33.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 643 |
| 2023/24 | 685 |
| 2024/25 | 757 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Axe Valley Academy compares
Axe Valley Academy ranked 36th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.2 | 11.7% | 30% | 741 | — |
| The Woodroffe School | 51.4 | 9.9% | 18.7% | 886 | 4.2 miles |
| Colyton Grammar School | 78.8 | 5.1% | 7.4% | 1,083 | 5.1 miles |
| Holyrood Academy | 42.4 | 10% | 25.7% | 1,282 | 6.5 miles |
| Honiton Community College | 40.4 | 11.7% | 23% | 637 | 8.6 miles |
| Wadham School | 42.3 | 9.7% | 19.2% | 763 | 11.7 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)
- 29.99%
- English as an additional language
- 5.5%
- Overall absence
- 11.69%
- Persistent absence
- 33.12%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Woodroffe School4.2 miles
Secondary · Lyme Regis
-
Colyton Grammar School5.1 miles
Secondary · Colyton
-
Holyrood Academy6.5 miles
Secondary · Chard
-
Honiton Community College8.6 miles
Secondary · Honiton
-
Wadham School11.7 miles
Secondary · Crewkerne
Other schools in Axminster
- All Saints Church of England Primary School Primary
- Axminster Community Primary Academy Primary
- Hawkchurch Church of England School Primary
- Kilmington Primary School Primary
- Membury Primary Academy Primary
- Musbury Primary School Primary
- Shute Community Primary School Primary
- St Andrew's CofE Primary Academy Primary
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Axminster Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Axe Valley Academy teach?
- Axe Valley Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Axminster.
- Who is the headteacher of Axe Valley Academy?
- The headteacher of Axe Valley Academy is Mr Robert Crocker, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Axe Valley Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Axe Valley 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 big is Axe Valley Academy?
- Axe Valley Academy has 741 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Axe Valley Academy full?
- Axe Valley Academy has capacity for 750 pupils and 741 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 Axe Valley Academy a faith school?
- No. Axe Valley Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Axe Valley Academy a selective school?
- No. Axe Valley Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Axe Valley Academy?
- Axe Valley Academy is part of BLACKDOWN EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Axe Valley Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.8 in 2022/23 and 39.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Axe Valley Academy rank locally?
- Axe Valley Academy ranked 36th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Axe Valley Academy's absence rate?
- Axe Valley Academy's overall absence rate is 11.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Axe Valley Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Axe Valley 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 10 July 2026.