West Exe School
Hatherleigh Road, Exeter, EX2 9JU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE TED WRAGG MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Jamie Engineer
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Exeter
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,300
- Pupils on roll
- 1,237
- URN
- 145404
- Local authority
- Devon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01392660100
About this school
West Exe School is a secondary academy in Exeter. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,237 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
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- 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 | 188 | 232 | 225 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.2 | 48.4 | 47.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.42 +0.21 to +0.63 | +0.16 -0.02 to +0.35 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 59% | 53.4% | 50.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 80% | 70.7% | 74.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 66% | 68.1% | 46.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
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 West Exe 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 | 49.2 | 36.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.4 | 36.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47 | 33.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,180 |
| 2023/24 | 1,234 |
| 2024/25 | 1,237 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How West Exe School compares
West Exe School ranked 11th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 66% 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 | 10% | 20.4% | 1,237 | — |
| Isca Academy | 46.4 | 11% | 27.9% | 860 | 1.3 miles |
| St Peter's Church of England Aided School | 53 | 7.6% | 13% | 1,305 | 2.6 miles |
| St James School | 46.9 | 8.8% | 27.5% | 985 | 2.9 miles |
| St Luke's Church of England School | 45.3 | 11.3% | 30.4% | 870 | 3.1 miles |
| Clyst Vale Community College | 44.5 | 9.1% | 23% | 944 | 5.6 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report16 June 2026
- 7 June 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 20.39%
- English as an additional language
- 15.8%
- Overall absence
- 10.03%
- Persistent absence
- 26.03%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Isca Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Exeter
-
St Peter's Church of England Aided School2.6 miles
Secondary · Exeter
-
St James School2.9 miles
Secondary · Exeter
-
St Luke's Church of England School3.1 miles
Secondary · Exeter
-
Clyst Vale Community College5.6 miles
Secondary · Exeter
Other schools in Exeter
West Exe School ranks 2nd of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Exeter.
- Clyst Vale Community College Secondary
- Isca Academy Secondary
- St James School Secondary
- St Luke's Church of England School Secondary
- St Peter's Church of England Aided School Secondary
- Chestnut Nursery School - Exeter Nursery Schools Federation Nursery
- West Exe Nursery School - Exeter Nursery Schools Federation Nursery
- Alphington Primary School Primary
- Bowhill Primary School Primary
- Brampford Speke Church of England Primary School Primary
- Broadclyst Community Primary School Primary
- Cheriton Bishop Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does West Exe School teach?
- West Exe School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Exeter.
- Who is the headteacher of West Exe School?
- The headteacher of West Exe School is Mr Jamie Engineer, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was West Exe School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected West Exe 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 big is West Exe School?
- West Exe School has 1,237 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is West Exe School full?
- West Exe School has capacity for 1,300 pupils and 1,237 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 West Exe School a faith school?
- No. West Exe School has no designated religious character.
- Is West Exe School a selective school?
- No. West Exe School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs West Exe School?
- West Exe School is part of THE TED WRAGG MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have West Exe School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.2 in 2022/23 and 47 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does West Exe School rank locally?
- West Exe School ranked 11th of 40 secondary schools in Devon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 66% 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 West Exe School's absence rate?
- West Exe School's overall absence rate is 10% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are West Exe School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, West Exe 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 13 August 2026.