Tiverton High School

A new number on the register, a familiar name on Bolham Road. Tiverton High School reopened on 1 March 2026 as a sponsor-led academy within Blackdown Education Partnership, succeeding the predecessor school of the same name. It serves around 1,170 students aged 11 to 16, is mixed and non-selective, and has no sixth form, so every student moves on at 16.

Headteacher Nicola Lewis describes a school on a journey of rapid and sustained improvement, built around hard work, kindness and a sense of belonging. The new academy has not yet been inspected by Ofsted since it opened, so it carries no inspection grade of its own. Families are therefore weighing a clear plan and a busy daily offer against a results record that still needs to climb. For local families who want a large community comprehensive with specialist autism provision, a long enrichment timetable and well-trodden routes into Devon's colleges, it deserves a close look.

Since early 2025 the school has been in a period of deliberate change. It left the Federation of Tiverton Schools on 27 January 2025, a new governing body was appointed, and it then reopened under a new establishment number as part of Blackdown Education Partnership. The name stayed the same; the governance and the expectations are what the leadership is resetting.

Nicola Lewis's welcome sets the tone. The stated vision is for every student to embrace hard work, kindness and a sense of belonging, with priorities of high expectations in classrooms, corridors and the wider community, and inclusive, high-quality teaching that helps students feel safe, connected and confident. The school describes itself as building a culture defined by positivity, high expectations and kindness, embedded through clear systems and routines. That is the language of a school tightening its daily habits rather than coasting, and parents should expect firm routines around uniform, punctuality and conduct.

Inclusion runs through the published material. The SEND team describes the school as fully inclusive, and it hosts the CAIRB, a resource base for students with complex communication and interaction needs that works within the support centre. Staff wellbeing gets attention too: the school has signed the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which matters because stable, well-supported staff are the foundation of any improving school.

Smaller touches add character. Garden Club meets in the School Garden, students run a Rotary-linked Interact group that raises money for local and overseas charities, and the school's PosiTIV publication has editions online from 2022 to 2024. These are signs of a school with a real community life beneath the formal priorities.

Results are the area where the new academy has the most ground to make up, and parents should read these figures as the starting line the new leadership inherited rather than as a verdict on its own work so far.

Tiverton High School is ranked 2,767th of 3,895 in England for GCSE results (top 71.0%), ranked against all schools in England with published GCSE results, state and independent. This is a proprietary FindMySchool ranking built from official data. It places the school in the lower half of schools in England on examination outcomes.

The detail tells the same story. The average Attainment 8 score was 38.2 across a cohort of 225 students. Progress 8, which measures how far students move from their starting points at the end of primary school, stood at -0.53. Because 0 is the England average, that figure means students made clearly below-average progress compared with similar students elsewhere, roughly half a grade per subject less than might be expected. The average EBacc point score was 3.17, and 3.6% of students achieved grade 5 or above across the full English Baccalaureate suite of English, maths, science, a language and a humanity.

The EBacc measure counts only students who take the whole combination, including a modern foreign language. Year 10 GCSE French and GCSE German both have after-school sessions, so languages are available to those who choose them, but the headline tells parents that the full academic combination is not yet the norm here.

Progress 8 is the figure to watch. It is the clearest single measure of whether teaching is adding value, and it is the one the improvement plan most needs to shift. Families should ask at open events what the 2026 results showed and how the school expects the new systems to change outcomes over the next two to three years.

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The curriculum is broad for an 11 to 16 school. Seventeen subject areas are published: Art, Computing, Dance, Design & Technology, Drama, English, Food Preparation and Nutrition / Hospitality and Catering, Geography, Health and Social Care, History, Maths, Modern Foreign Languages, Music, PE, Reading and Literacy, RPS and Science. RPS stands for Religion, Philosophy and Society. The mix of GCSE and vocational routes means students with different strengths have a genuine path through Key Stage 4.

Departments plan around what the school calls key constructs, the essential knowledge each subject distils from its content. In PE, those constructs are developing and improving skills, developing physical and mental capacity, evaluating and improving, and making and applying decisions, taught through Rugby, Netball, Badminton, Dance, Gymnastics and Athletics in Key Stage 3. At Key Stage 4, students choose between GCSE PE, focused on how the body's systems work together with practical assessment in three sports, or the Cambridge National in Sport Studies, which is more industry-focused, with units on sports media and coaching styles and practical assessment in two sports. That choice suits both the analytical athlete and the student who learns best through applied work. Students who take neither still have Key Stage 4 non-examination PE, built around the same four key constructs and aimed at a lifelong habit of physical activity.

Drama is planned in unusual detail. Year 7 students study Animal Farm and a digital recording of Peter Pan; Year 8 moves to Macbeth and Wonder.Land; Year 9, an optional pathway, takes on Lord of the Flies and Blood Brothers, with Frankenstein for live theatre review. Blood Brothers returns in depth at GCSE. Music follows the AQA GCSE specification across four areas of study, from Western Classical 1650-1910 to Popular Music and Traditional Music, and students meet two types of music software in Year 9 to prepare for GCSE composition.

After-school support is timetabled rather than ad hoc: GCSE Food catch-up, GCSE D&T, GCSE Construction, GCSE PE Intervention and Sports Studies Intervention sessions all appear on the enrichment programme, alongside a SPARX Maths homework club and a SPARX Reader catch-up club for Years 7 and 8. For a school working to raise Progress 8, that structured extra time is exactly where improvement is usually won.

With no sixth form, every student leaves at 16, and the school publishes four years of Year 11 destination data. The pattern is steady. In 2025, 83% went into full-time college education, 2% into a school sixth form and 12% into apprenticeships, with 1% recorded as unemployed and none unknown. The apprenticeship share has risen each year, from 7% in 2022 to 8%, then 9%, then 12%, which suggests careers guidance is taking vocational routes seriously.

Named destinations give parents a sense of the local map. College leavers go to Petroc College, Exeter College, Bicton (Cornwall college group), Bridgewater and Taunton and Huish. Sixth-form destinations listed include Maynards, Exeter Maths School and Blundells, and the school notes that T Level and Traineeship programmes at local colleges are growing in popularity. For a Tiverton family, that means the post-16 decision is really a choice of college course, and preparation for it starts early.

Careers work is led by Rae Parker, Assistant Head for People Strategy & Communication, with support from Nic Lane and PSHE subject leader Emily Ferret. The programme measures itself against the eight Gatsby benchmarks and is delivered through weekly personal development lessons, assemblies, development days, visits and talks, with dedicated pages for Year 9 options, work experience, enrichment days and a post-16 pathway. Year 11 intended destinations, confirmed offers and actual destinations are tracked, so students should not drift through the transition without a plan. The stated aims include opportunities to work with employers, close work with local colleges and support for decisions about options in Years 8 and 9, which gives families a clear set of promises to hold the school to.

Entry is straightforward and local. Tiverton High School is a non-selective academy, and all applications, whether at the normal Year 7 transfer point or in year, go through a Common Application Form from Devon County Council. The council publishes the selection and oversubscription criteria and explains the process on its school admissions pages, and parents should read those arrangements before listing preferences.

Demand is close to capacity rather than intense. For 2025 entry, the school received 215 applications for 210 offers, which makes it technically oversubscribed at about 1.02 applications per place. The ratio of first preferences to first-preference offers stood at 1, which suggests that families who put the school first were, in practice, offered a place. The main question for most local families is therefore not whether they can get in, but whether the school is the right fit.

Transition gets its own attention. The admissions pages carry a Welcome Evening Transition booklet for parents, a Big Step letter and a Transition Welcome Booklet, and the school says it supports joiners and their parents through the admissions process. Starts are staggered too: in September 2026, Years 7 and 11 returned on 7 September, a day before all year groups were back.

For children with an Education, Health and Care plan who may need the CAIRB, the route is different. Parents are asked to speak to their current SENDCo and school, who can support them in liaising with Devon County Council about the steps needed. There are 8 places across the year groups, so those conversations should start early.

Wellbeing provision is one of the most fully described parts of the school. Tiverton High School works in partnership with Bounce, Brighter Futures Foundation, whose two counsellors, Eddie and Joanna, are in school three days a week offering psychotherapeutic support. Bounce also runs a HUB that supports young people and families outside school. For a large secondary, having counselling on site three days a week shortens the wait between a student raising a worry and getting professional help.

Peer support adds a second layer. Twenty Year 10 students applied for and were trained as Wellbeing Ambassadors, and they lead drop-in sessions, one-to-one peer coaching and campaigns to reduce stigma around mental health. The school has also achieved the School Mental Health Award at Bronze standard, delivered by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools. A Mindfulness session, a Young Carers Club and an LGBTQ+ Club all appear on the weekly enrichment timetable, so students who need a particular kind of space can find one.

SEND support is led by SENDCO Mr Andrew Humberstone, with two Assistant SENDCOs, Mrs Hannah Eaves and Mrs Ruth Roberts, and a team of HLTAs and teaching assistants. The CAIRB offers 8 places for students with complex communication and interaction needs who can follow a mainstream curriculum; all have an EHCP. The school describes itself as autism-friendly across the CAIRB and the mainstream, and Babcock LDP carries out an annual monitoring visit of the resource base. The CAIRB is staffed by a teacher, an area lead teaching assistant and further teaching assistants, a high ratio that the school says lets students access mainstream classroom learning as well as the base. That combination gives autistic students a secure place to return to while still taking part in mainstream lessons and clubs.

Behaviour expectations are tied to the new culture. An Assistant Head, Nic Lane, holds responsibility for behaviour and culture alongside personal development, and the school states that complaints about conduct on school or public transport are taken seriously.

The most useful document for families is the published enrichment programme, and it is long. The latest timetable runs clubs at lunchtime, from 1.15pm to 1.55pm, and after school, most days until 4pm, with venues named down to the room. Students have something to join every day of the week.

Sport. The Sports Hall, Fitness Suite, Studio 1, Studio 2, the KS3 Courts, the Back Fields and the KS4 Fields all host activity. The timetable lists Year 7/8 Football, Year 9 Football, Year 10/11 Football, Boys Football, Girls Rugby, KS3 Boys Rugby, Netball, Basketball, KS3 and KS4 Badminton, Table Tennis, Indoor Cricket, Tennis/Pickleball and year-group Fitness Suite sessions. GCSE PE students also have a Climbing session running from 3:00 to 6:00. The school says there are regular fixtures against other schools for all age groups, so a student who wants competitive sport will find it.

Music and performing arts. Music Open Rehearsals run in the Music Department every lunchtime, the THS Orchestra meets on Wednesdays after school, and there is a Singing Group and a Music Tech Club. Trinity Graded exams are often offered to students learning instruments at the school and run in the music department. Drama has lunchtime Drama Drop In sessions and an after-school Drama Club in Room 76, while Dance runs from Year 7 and 8 Dance Club up to GCSE Dance rehearsals in Studio 1. The Music and Drama departments sit within a Performing Arts faculty with close links to TCAT, and the music curriculum counts musicals and public concerts as part of the offer.

Service and leadership. Around 60 students each year achieve the Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze Award at the school, and many go on to complete Silver. The award is run by Mr Wright-Stainton with other staff supporting expeditions. It includes a community service activity, such as a gardening programme, and a team expedition on foot, bicycle, canoe or horseback, so students build independence well away from the classroom. Tiverton High School Interact is student-led, meets with its Rotary partners on the first Wednesday of each month and on Thursdays after school, and has supported Hospiscare, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, Marie Curie, the British Heart Foundation and Aid to Ukraine, among others. Its events include a Christmas Craft Fair, a Quiz Night and a Christmas Carol Concert. Rotary has honoured both Interact lead teachers, Mrs Webber and Mrs Doeller, with the Paul Harris Fellowship award. Interact can count towards the Volunteering section of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which links the two neatly for students who want to build a record of service.

Clubs for every kind of student. The quieter end of the timetable is just as specific: a Dice Rollers Guild Club, FreeThinkers, Creative Writing Club, a Christian Union, Globetrotters, a Fantasy Football Club, KS3 Art Club and GCSE Art/Photography/3D sessions in the art rooms. For a student who is not sporty, that breadth matters as much as the fixture list.

The school day runs from 8:30am to 3pm, a total of 32.5 hours a week. Foot gates at the front and back of the site open from 7am and close at 8:30am when school starts. There are secure bike sheds, and the site is open for car drop-off before 8:30am and collection after 2:50pm, though the car park gets busy. Students can travel by dedicated school transport or public buses. Devon County Council runs school transport: students of compulsory school age living beyond the three-mile statutory distance from their designated school qualify for free transport.

Uniform includes a Tiverton High School jacket with logo and a year-group tie, both from Stitch 2 Print, with standard items available from supermarkets. As a state school, Tiverton High School charges no tuition fees.

No inspection track record yet. Before this school opened, the predecessor school (URN 113548) was judged Inadequate by Ofsted in October 2024. The new academy has not yet been inspected, so there is no independent judgement on whether the changes are working. Parents should ask directly how leaders measure progress against their improvement priorities.

Results remain weak. A Progress 8 score of -0.53 and a ranking in the lower half of schools in England show that students have not been making the progress seen elsewhere. The new trust and leadership are there to change that, but a child starting in Year 7 now will be relying on the improvement landing within their five years.

No sixth form on site. Every student moves on at 16, most to Petroc College, Exeter College or another local college. Families who want continuity to A level in one institution will need to plan for a second transition.

Specialist places are limited. The CAIRB has 8 places across all year groups, and admission to it runs through Devon County Council. Families of autistic children should start conversations early rather than assuming a place.

Tiverton High School is a large community comprehensive in the middle of a reset. The reopening under Blackdown Education Partnership, a clearly stated culture of high expectations and kindness, and a leadership team led by Nicola Lewis give it a credible plan. The weekly enrichment timetable is genuinely extensive, from Girls Rugby to the THS Orchestra and a student-led Interact group, and the wellbeing offer, with Bounce counsellors on site three days a week and trained Wellbeing Ambassadors, is stronger than many schools publish.

It is best suited to local Tiverton families who want an inclusive, non-selective school with specialist autism provision, a strong route into Devon's colleges and apprenticeships, and plenty to do beyond lessons. The main caveat is academic: results and progress remain well short of where they need to be, and there is no inspection of the new academy yet to confirm that improvement is taking hold.