Brunel School
Brunel School is a sponsored special academy in Paignton for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 64 pupils, 1 more than it has places for. About 77 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted visited in June 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
170b Torquay Road, Paignton, TQ3 2AL01803 665522brunelschool.orgMrs Vikki Alden headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 9 June 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 4 February 2020 | Academy First Section 5 | Requires improvement |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
14 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023† | 2022† | 2019† | 2018† | Torbay | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 19 | 10 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 49.7 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -2.44 | -2.79 | -2.19 | -2.96 | -3.28 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 53% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 69% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 0.06 | 0.04 | 0.12 | 0.25 | 0.18 | 0.17 | 4.35 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 29% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 1.9 | 0.8 | 5.0 | 2.8 | 2.3 | – | – |
† These results are for The Brunel Academy, the school this one replaced in September 2023. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Subjects
Results came out for 1 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 6 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 54% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Torbay council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with autism, social, emotional and mental health.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Torbay with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (56), Autistic spectrum disorder (4), Moderate learning difficulty (2), Other difficulty or disability (1), language and communications needs (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 64 | 48 | 54 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 77% | 83% | 80% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 57.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23† | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 42.8% | 50.7% | 52.3% | 59.7% | 41.6% | 30.2% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 23.9% | 24.7% | 28.5% | 33.8% | 28.4% | 18.0% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 19.0% | 26.0% | 23.8% | 25.9% | 13.2% | 12.3% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 87.5% | 93.2% | 92.7% | 100.0% | 96.9% | 86.7% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 564.6 | 611.1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for The Brunel Academy, the school this one replaced in September 2023. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston Bridge School | Independent | 290 m | 61 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Oldway Primary School | Academy | 380 m | 598 | Good 2024 | 32 | Compare |
| Sacred Heart Catholic School | Academy | 480 m | 208 | Good 2023 | 58 | Compare |
| Curledge Street Academy | Academy | 0.7 miles | 439 | Good 2023 | 74 | Compare |
| St Michael's Church of England Academy | Free school | 0.8 miles | 101 | Good 2024 | 95 | Compare |
| Preston Primary School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 325 | Good 2023 | 50 | Compare |
| Hayes School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 340 | No overall grade 2024 | 91 | Compare |
| Kings Ash Academy | Academy | 1.1 miles | 293 | Good 2021 | 31 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Brunel School a good school?
Brunel School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from June 2026 rated its teaching as as expected.
What is Brunel School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 9 June 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as needs attention, leadership as as expected.
How good are Brunel School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 0% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 1.5, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished well over a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Brunel School have?
64 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 63 places, so it is 102% full.
What is attendance like at Brunel School?
Pupils were in school 57.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 88% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Brunel School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism, social, emotional and mental health. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 170b Torquay Road, Paignton, TQ3 2AL
- Telephone
- 01803 665522
- Website
- www.brunelschool.org
- Headteacher
- Mrs Vikki Alden
- Type of school
- Sponsored special academy (Academy special sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Special Partnership Trust (10 schools)
- Local authority
- Torbay
- Ward
- Preston
- Constituency
- Torbay
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2023 (fresh start)
- URN
- 150616 · LAESTAB 8807002 · UKPRN 10094349
- Formerly
- The Brunel Academy
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.