Paignton Academy

Paignton Academy remains a school that requires improvement. Inspectors found weaknesses in the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management, while personal development was judged to be a strength. Published attainment is typically below the national average, and older pupils still have significant gaps in their learning, although improvements are clearer in key stage 3. The school has a broad and ambitious curriculum that is logically sequenced, and pupils in key stage 3 are remembering more of what they have been taught. Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities has improved, including the specially resourced provision at the Borough Road site, and the personal development programme, careers education and enrichment offer are notable strengths. Behaviour has also improved, with calm and purposeful lessons, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. However, teaching is inconsistent, reading support is still in its infancy, and some pupils use derogatory language or behave unkindly outside lessons without consistent challenge. Attendance is a significant concern, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those who join at different times of the year, and too much learning is lost through absence and suspension. The trust and school have begun to evaluate new initiatives, but oversight of impact remains less secure in some areas and the pace of improvement has been slow until recently. The school is part of Thinking Schools Academy Trust, operates across two sites, and joined the trust in September 2023.

Strengths

• Broad and ambitious curriculum with logically sequenced knowledge
• Key stage 3 pupils are developing deeper understanding and remembering more
• Provision for pupils with SEND has improved, with needs identified quickly
• Specially resourced SEND provision is central to the Borough Road site and pupils access education more regularly
• Personal development programme is a strength, covering relationships, online safety, grief and careers
• Careers education is well established and pupils are informed about next steps
• Pupils benefit from enrichment and leadership opportunities such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, sports leaders, mental health ambassadors and translators
• Behaviour has improved and lessons are calm and purposeful
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Most staff support the leadership of the school and trust-led improvements

Areas for Improvement

• Some staff do not use agreed learning strategies effectively, so pupils do not learn as well as they should
• Pupils’ attainment is typically below the national average and older pupils have significant gaps in learning
• The programme of support for pupils at the early stages of reading is in its infancy
• A culture of reading for pleasure is not yet established
• Some pupils use derogatory language or show unkind behaviour outside lessons, and this is not consistently challenged
• Too many pupils miss significant learning time due to absence, including disadvantaged pupils and those who join at different times of the year
• Suspension contributes to lost learning time for some pupils
• Oversight of the impact of some initiatives remains less secure
• The pace of school improvement has been too slow until recently
• A minority of staff raise concerns about the amount of change and its impact on workload

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Paignton Academy attended 88.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 29.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 9.7% of pupils at Paignton Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 9 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Paignton Academy had 16.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 17.9% of pupils at Paignton Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Paignton Academy received £8,320 and spent £8,602 for each of its 1,582 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £29,000 (£18 per pupil).

Across all 19 schools of The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, income was £8,363 and spending £8,363 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Paignton · Torbay local authority: places and applications

Paignton Academy is part of The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, which runs 25 schools. The nearest others:

• Curledge Street Academy Paignton
• Kings Ash Academy Paignton
• Furzeham Primary School Brixham
• Brixham College Brixham
• Plympton Academy Plymouth
• Plymouth High School for Girls Plymouth
• Penbridge Infant School Portsmouth
• The Portsmouth Academy Portsmouth
• New Horizons Primary School Portsmouth
• Penbridge Junior School Portsmouth

What is Paignton Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Paignton Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Paignton Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Paignton Academy was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Paignton Academy have?

Paignton Academy has 1,568 pupils on roll.

What age range does Paignton Academy cover?

Paignton Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Paignton Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.5, and 30% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Paignton Academy?

Paignton Academy is at Waterleat Road, Paignton, Devon, TQ3 3WA.