Royal Deaf Education Trust
Royal Deaf Education Trust is a non-maintained special school in Exmouth for boys and girls aged 5 to 19. It has 49 pupils and room for 150. About 42 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
1 Douglas Avenue, Exmouth, EX8 2AU01395 203130thedeafacademy.ac.ukMr Sylvan Dewing interim principalAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 23 February 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
5 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 | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | – | – | – | – | 2.5 | 1.6 | 45.9 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | – | – | – | – | -1.46 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% | 46% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% | 67% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | – | – | – | – | 0.11 | 0.02 | 4.08 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% | 38% | 41% |
A level and sixth-form results, 2017
20 students finished sixth-form courses.
All sixth-form measures, year by year
| Measure | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Students | 20 |
| Average A level grade | NE |
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 Devon 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 hearing impairment, visual impairment.
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 Devon with hearing impairment provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Hearing impairment (35), Multi-sensory impairment (7), Autistic spectrum disorder (2), Moderate learning difficulty (1), Physical disability (1), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 49 | 48 | 50 | 46 | 39 | 33 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 37% | 31% | 30% | 28% | 23% | 15% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 43% | 40% | 54% | 63% | 67% | 61% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 4% | 4% | 0% | 3% | 6% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 96% | 96% | 100% | 97% | 94% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 83.4% 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 | 16.6% | 12.2% | 12.4% | 13.5% | 6.5% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 13.1% | 7.4% | 8.7% | 9.9% | 6.1% | 4.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 3.4% | 4.8% | 3.8% | 3.7% | 0.4% | 0.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 44.4% | 33.3% | 30.4% | 41.2% | 25.0% | 0.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 6.3 | 2.0 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 6 pupils who left in 2018/19 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2018/19 leavers | 2015/16 leavers |
|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 100% | 91% |
| Education | 100% | – |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | – |
| Work | 0% | – |
| Not in education, work or training | 0% | – |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Deaf Education Trust | Special post 16 institution | 20 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School | Church of England | 550 m | 151 | Report card 2026 | 10 | Compare |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth | Academy | 580 m | 185 | Good 2024 | 16 | Compare |
| Exeter Road Community Primary School | Foundation | 860 m | 170 | No overall grade 2025 | 5 | Compare |
| Exmouth Community College | Academy | 0.8 miles | 2,031 | Requires improvement 2024 | 14 | Compare |
| Marpool Primary School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 192 | Inadequate 2023 | 1 | Compare |
| Withycombe Raleigh Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 1.1 miles | 611 | Good 2024 | 39 | Compare |
| Littleham Church of England Primary School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 67 | Inadequate 2023 | 0 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Royal Deaf Education Trust a good school?
Royal Deaf Education Trust doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in February 2023.
What is Royal Deaf Education Trust's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Royal Deaf Education Trust good at its last full inspection on 23 February 2023.
How many pupils does Royal Deaf Education Trust have?
49 pupils aged 5 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 150 places, so it is 33% full.
What is attendance like at Royal Deaf Education Trust?
Pupils were in school 83.4% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 44% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Royal Deaf Education Trust have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for hearing impairment, visual impairment. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Royal Deaf Education Trust have a sixth form?
Yes. The average A level grade in 2017 was NE.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 1 Douglas Avenue, Exmouth, EX8 2AU
- Telephone
- 01395 203130
- Website
- www.thedeafacademy.ac.uk
- Interim Principal
- Mr Sylvan Dewing
- Type of school
- Non-maintained special school (Non-maintained special school, special schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 5-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Devon
- Ward
- Exmouth Littleham
- Constituency
- Exmouth and Exeter East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 113654 · LAESTAB 8787083 · UKPRN 10039934
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.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- 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.