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St James School

Secondary Ages 11-16 985 pupils Exeter
All schools in Exeter

St James School is an academy converter in Exeter for pupils aged 11 to 16. It has 985 pupils on roll. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 49.2, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

GCSE results: 2026.

Type Secondary / Academy converter
Age Range 11-16
Religion Unknown
Address Summer Lane
Exeter
Devon
EX4 8NN
Phone 01392209922
Reference Number 142805

General Makeup

Number of pupils 985
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 51.88%
Girls: 48.12%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 28.2%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 18.8%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 27.5

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 95 103 198
8 102 97 199
9 102 96 198
10 109 83 192
11 103 95 198

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 71%
White, Other 8.5%
Unclassified 2.9%
African 2.7%
Indian 1.8%
White & Asian 1.6%
Mixed, Other 1.5%
White & Black (African) 0.9%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.7%
Asian, Other 0.7%
Chinese 0.6%
Pakistani 0.4%

Overall Ofsted Rating
Last Report Date 14 Nov 2023 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
14 Nov 2023 School inspection
31 Jan 2018 Short inspection
06 May 2016 Academy conversion letter
24 Mar 2015 Full inspection:
Previously as St James School
15 Jan 2013 Interim assessment
17 Nov 2010 Curriculum and development visit
11 Nov 2009 Full inspection:
19 Jun 2007 Full inspection:
20 Mar 2007 Monitoring visit
09 Nov 2006 Monitoring visit
24 May 2006 Monitoring visit
03 Nov 2005 Full inspection:
25 May 2005 Inspection
03 Nov 2003 Full inspection

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

  • English
  • Maths
  • 3 subjects from qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), like sciences, language and history
  • 3 more GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from a list approved by the Department for Education

Each grade a pupil gets is assigned a point score from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest). These scores are added up, with English and maths counted twice.

School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
49.2

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 50.5%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 63.1%

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

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GCSE Results

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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 95 9
Third Preference 71 0
From another Local Authority 1 0

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 St James School had 985 pupils for 953 places. That is 32 more pupils than the school has room for.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “Exeter Secondary” planning area

Devon counted 1,197 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 1,288 in 2031–32, up 8%.

201620172018201920212022202320242025
Places 953953953953953953953953953
Pupils 783826869909956968977979985
Unfilled 17.8%13.3%8.8%4.6%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%

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 St James School attended 91.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 21.9% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

20172018201920212022202320242025
Authorised absence 3.4%3.4%3.7%3.7%7.9%6.1%6.6%6.3%
Unauthorised absence 2.0%1.7%1.5%2.4%3.9%4.6%3.0%2.6%
Severely absent pupils 1.0%1.7%1.2%2.4%5.1%7.1%5.0%5.9%

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, 8.5% of pupils at St James School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

201720182019202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 8.014.616.221.022.124.830.535.322.6
Permanent exclusions 131013000

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 St James School had 19.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Pupils per adult 10.612.611.012.011.711.411.413.213.113.1
Teachers who left state teaching 11.9%11.9%9.7%7.6%5.9%3.3%8.3%5.9%8.4%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 73.8%67.7%73.1%–49.3%86.8%81.0%79.7%78.5%–
Sick days per teacher 3.56.02.7–2.77.35.24.13.7–

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, 21.8% of pupils at St James School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Social, emotional and mental health 59 13
Speech, language and communication needs 48 10
Autistic spectrum disorder 22 17
Moderate learning difficulty 34 3
Specific learning difficulty 27 3
No specialist assessment of need 9 0
Other difficulty or disability 7 1
Hearing impairment 6 1
Physical disability 1 3
Multi-sensory impairment 2 0
Vision impairment 0 1

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 St James School received £7,565 and spent £7,944 for each of its 996 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £679,000 (£681 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of The Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,641 and spending £7,750 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue reserve £500,000£470,000£717,000£568,000£582,000£654,000£679,000
per pupil £553£495£741£592£591£668£681
In-year balance £88,000-£310,000£75,000£971,000-£316,000-£158,000-£377,000
per pupil £97-£327£78£1,013-£320-£161-£378

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.

Name Distance
Willowbrook School
Summer Lane, Beacon Heath, Exeter, Devon, EX4 8NN
0.15 miles
Whipton Barton Infants and Nursery School
Whipton Barton Infant and Nursery School, Hiil Lane, Whipton, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3JP
0.54 miles
Whipton Barton Junior School
Whipton Barton Junior School, Hill Lane, Whipton, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3JP
0.57 miles
Stoke Hill Junior School
Stoke Hill, Exeter, Devon, EX4 7DP
0.8 miles
Stoke Hill Infant and Nursery School
Stoke Hill, Exeter, Devon, EX4 7DB
0.82 miles
Pinhoe Church of England Primary School & Nursery
Harrington Lane, Pinhoe, Exeter, Devon, EX4 8PE
0.95 miles
Ladysmith Junior School
Pretoria Road, Exeter, Devon, EX1 2PT
0.96 miles
Ladysmith Infant & Nursery School
Ladysmith Road, Exeter, Devon, EX1 2PS
0.98 miles
St Michael's Church of England Primary Academy
South Lawn Terrace, Heavitree, Exeter, Devon, EX1 2SN
1.09 miles
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
Ringswell Avenue, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3EG
1.09 miles
Monkerton Community Primary School
Sestertius Road, Monkerton, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3WS
1.09 miles
Newtown Primary School
Clifton Road, Exeter, Devon, EX1 2BP
1.36 miles
Westclyst Community Primary School
Maddick Road, Westclyst, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3YG
1.42 miles
St Sidwell's Church of England Primary School & Nursery
York Road, St Sidwell's Ce Primary School and Nursery, Exeter, Devon, EX4 6PG
1.42 miles
Woodwater Academy
Woodwater Lane, Exeter, Devon, EX2 5AW
1.57 miles
Chestnut Nursery School - Exeter Nursery Schools Federation
Magnolia Avenue, Exeter, EX2 6DJ
1.78 miles
Wynstream Primary School Academy
Burnthouse Lane, Exeter, Devon, EX2 6AY
1.86 miles
Clyst Heath Nursery and Community Primary School
Royal Crescent, Clyst Heath, Exeter, Devon, EX2 7QT
1.88 miles
St Leonard's (CofE) Primary School
St Leonard's Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4NQ
1.89 miles
Exeter Cathedral School
The Chantry, Exeter, EX1 1HX
1.93 miles
Name Distance
Vranch House School
Pinhoe Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 8AD
0.48 miles
St Luke's Church of England School
Harts Lane, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3RD
0.82 miles
Ellen Tinkham School
Hollow Lane, Pinhoe, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3RW
1.13 miles
St Peter's Church of England Aided School
Quarry Lane, Heavitree, Exeter, Devon, EX2 5AP
1.47 miles
Exeter School
Victoria Park Road, Exeter, EX2 4NS
1.5 miles
The Maynard School
Denmark Road, Exeter, EX1 1SJ
1.57 miles
Magdalen Court School
Victoria Park Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4NU
1.69 miles
Exeter Mathematics School
ROUGEMONT HOUSE, CASTLE ROAD, EXETER, DEVON, EX4 3PU
1.75 miles
Atkinson Secure Children's Home
Care of: Devon County Council, Exeter, EX2 4QD
1.92 miles
Exeter and North Devon Colleges Group
Hele Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4JS
2.01 miles
Thomas Hall School
Cowley Bridge Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 5AD
2.2 miles
Southbrook School
Bishop Westall Road, Topsham Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 6JB
2.21 miles
Isca Academy
Earl Richards Road South, Exeter, Devon, EX2 6AP
2.22 miles
Belong School Devon
Grace Road West, Marsh Barton, Exeter, Devon, EX2 8PU
2.59 miles
Clyst Vale Community College
Station Road, Broadclyst, Exeter, Devon, EX5 3AJ
2.79 miles
West Exe School
Hatherleigh Road, Exeter, EX2 9JU
2.91 miles
Barley Lane School
Barley Lane, St Thomas, Exeter, Devon, EX4 1TA
3.3 miles
Matford Brook Academy
March Close, Matford, Exeter, Devon, EX2 0BZ
3.73 miles
The Outdoors School
Straw Barn, Barton Lane, Shillingford Abbot, Exeter, Devon, EX2 9QQ
4.18 miles
Cranbrook Education Campus
Tillhouse Road, Cranbrook, Cranbrook Education Campus, Exeter, Devon, EX5 7EE
4.35 miles

All schools in Exeter · Devon local authority: places and applications

St James School is part of The Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust, which runs 18 schools. The nearest others:

How many pupils does St James School have?

St James School has 985 pupils on roll.

What age range does St James School cover?

St James School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St James School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 49.2, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St James School?

St James School is at Summer Lane, Exeter, Devon, EX4 8NN.

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