Paignton Academy Review 2026: Large, split-site secondary with a strong personal development offer

Two sites, one school is the defining feature here. Students learn across Waterleat Road and Borough Road, with leaders working hard to maintain a shared identity across a large Year 7 to Year 11 intake. Capacity is substantial at 1,590, and the published admission number for Year 7 is 360, split evenly between the two sites.

The most recent Ofsted inspection in December 2024 graded quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management as Requires Improvement; personal development was graded Good.

What stands out, even within a challenging inspection picture, is the breadth of enrichment and leadership roles for students, and a clear emphasis on wellbeing, careers guidance, and inclusion. The school describes its ethos as Believe and Achieve, and it sits within Thinking Schools Academy Trust, which shapes teaching approaches and staff development.

A split-site model can easily become two schools living side-by-side; here, leaders have put deliberate effort into avoiding that. Shared productions, trips, and cross-site use of facilities are part of the method, and the language of community is consistent in official reporting.

Students’ experience is mixed, and it is best understood as uneven rather than uniformly negative. Lessons are often calm and purposeful, and the behaviour policy is generally applied effectively when low-level disruption appears. Social times are where the picture becomes more complex, with a minority of students using unkind or derogatory language and not always being challenged consistently.

Pastoral culture is also visible through student responsibility. The school has promoted leadership roles that include sports leaders, mental health ambassadors, and student translators supporting peers who speak English as an additional language. Alongside this, participation in The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has been increasing, and sits firmly within the school’s personal development strengths.

Leadership continuity matters in schools working through improvement cycles. The principal is Derwyn Williams, and the headteacher joined the school in September 2021, a period that has included curriculum redesign and a trust change.

FindMySchool’s GCSE outcomes ranking places the school at 3,428th in England, and 1st locally in Paignton. This reflects performance in the lower band nationally, meaning below England average relative to other schools. (FindMySchool ranking, based on official data.)

At GCSE level, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 37.5. Progress 8 is -0.63, which indicates that, on average, students make less progress than pupils nationally with similar prior attainment. EBacc average point score is 3.1, and 3.6% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above across the EBacc measure.

The practical implication for families is that outcomes look inconsistent across cohorts and subjects, and the school is still in the work of making curriculum and teaching quality reliably strong across departments. For some students, the environment will provide the structure and support they need; for others, especially those who rely on consistently high classroom practice in every subject, it may feel more variable than they would like.

Parents comparing local options should use the FindMySchool Local Hub page and Comparison Tool to benchmark these measures against nearby schools serving similar intakes.

Curriculum work has been a central improvement lever. The school has redesigned its curriculum to be broad and ambitious, organising knowledge in a logical sequence so students build understanding over time, with particular evidence of impact in Key Stage 3. Older cohorts still carry gaps from earlier disruption and uneven implementation, which is a common challenge when a new curriculum model beds in.

Staff development is also clearly foregrounded. Professional development and coaching are intended to help teachers use a shared set of teaching approaches consistently. Where practice is strongest, students benefit from clear instruction and careful checking of understanding; the problem is that this is not yet uniform across subjects.

The school’s “Thinking Schools” identity is not purely branding. It explicitly references cognitive education tools in classroom practice, including Thinking Maps and other thinking routines, which signals a structured, method-led approach to learning rather than a purely content-led model.

Reading is a priority area, with targeted support for students at early stages of reading development, alongside a stated aim to build reading for pleasure more strongly. This matters in a large comprehensive, because literacy is the gateway to progress in almost every GCSE subject.

Where Students Go Next

There is no sixth form, so progression planning is about post-16 routes into further education, training, and employment. Careers education is described as a meaningful part of the school’s offer, with students receiving advice and encounters with local colleges and employers so that next steps feel practical rather than abstract.

For families, the key question is fit: does your child need a school that is intensely exam-driven, or a school that balances improvement-focused academic work with strong personal development and structured guidance into post-16 choices. Here, personal development is a clear strength, and it is supported by enrichment, leadership roles, and careers provision.

Year 7 admission is coordinated through Torbay Council. For September 2026 entry, applications opened on 1 September 2025 and closed on 31 October 2025; offers were issued on 2 March 2026.

The published admission number is 360 in Year 7, and the school operates across two sites. Oversubscription criteria include looked-after and previously looked-after children, siblings, and residence within the designated area, with distance used as a tie-break where needed. Distance measurement is straight-line using the council’s mapping system, and the admissions policy also explains that transport eligibility is assessed separately.

Recent demand data indicates the school is oversubscribed, with 401 applications for 327 offers, around 1.23 applications per offer in the latest published dataset. Competition is therefore present, but it is not at the extreme levels seen in some high-performing comprehensives or selective schools.

Open events are part of the school’s outreach. The next published Open Evening is scheduled for Thursday 18 June 2026, hosted at the Waterleat Road site with timed sessions.

Families weighing distance-based admissions should use the FindMySchool Map Search to understand how their home compares with historic allocation patterns, and to stress-test any relocation decision against the reality that allocations can shift year to year.

A practical way to understand wellbeing here is to look at what the school has built around vulnerability and anxiety. The school runs a specially resourced provision for emotionally based school avoidance, based at Borough Road, and this has been positioned as central to inclusion and attendance recovery for a small cohort.

Personal development is the most clearly established strength. Students are taught about healthy relationships, online safety, and managing difficult emotions such as grief, and leadership roles like mental health ambassadors indicate that wellbeing is treated as a whole-school responsibility, not only a pastoral team function.

Inspectors confirmed safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Enrichment is not marginal here. Students have access to a broad programme of opportunities across both sites, and participation is actively encouraged as part of belonging and confidence-building.

Two programmes illustrate the school’s approach particularly well.

First, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has been growing, giving students structured challenges that combine volunteering, skills, physical activity, and expedition work. The benefit is more than a certificate, it builds resilience, planning, and teamwork, which often translates into stronger attendance and a more stable peer group for students who engage with it.

Second, the Young Interpreter Scheme provides trained student support for peers who are new to English, developing empathy and practical communication skills. For families of students joining mid-year, or those in multilingual households, this can materially improve integration and reduce the social friction that often drives poor attendance.

Alongside these, school-published club lists show structured daily support such as Breakfast Club and Study and Homework Club, plus targeted careers drop-ins at Key Stage 4. These are small operational details, but they matter in practice for students who need a calm start, help with organisation, or a supported place to work after school.

The school day runs from tutor time at 8:30am through to the end of Period 5 at 3:00pm, with five one-hour lessons and scheduled break and lunch.

The academy operates on two sites, and families should factor that into daily logistics, particularly around transition arrangements and pastoral contact points, which can differ by house and site. Breakfast and homework support sessions are published in club schedules, which can be useful for students who benefit from routine and supervised study time.

Transport and travel vary widely across Torbay, and school transport eligibility is assessed separately from admissions distance. Families should check current eligibility rules and routes before assuming a particular travel arrangement.

• Requires Improvement inspection profile. Three key areas were graded Requires Improvement in December 2024. Families should read this as a signal of inconsistency, rather than a lack of positive practice, and ask direct questions about how teaching quality is being made more uniform across subjects.

• Behaviour at social times. Lessons are often calm, but a minority of students have been reported as using unkind or derogatory language outside classrooms, and this has not always been challenged consistently. If your child is sensitive to peer culture, ask how breaktime supervision and behaviour follow-up work day to day.

• Attendance and suspension impact. Too many students have missed significant learning time, including through absence and suspension, with disadvantaged students over-represented. The implication is that routines and engagement are a core part of the improvement story.

• No sixth form. Post-16 progression means moving on to a college or training provider. This suits many students well, but families wanting an all-through 11 to 18 pathway will need to plan earlier for transition at 16.

This is a large, comprehensive secondary working through a multi-year improvement agenda, with curriculum sequencing and staff development as the main levers. Academic outcomes and progress measures sit below typical England levels in the published dataset, but personal development, careers support, and structured enrichment are clearer strengths.

It suits families who want a local, non-selective secondary with a broad offer and a visible focus on wellbeing and student leadership, and who are comfortable engaging actively with the school about consistency in teaching and behaviour culture. For families seeking the strongest exam outcomes above all else, it is sensible to compare alternatives carefully and to scrutinise subject-level support and expectations.