Brixham College

About Brixham College

Brixham College is a mixed 11-18 state secondary in Torbay, one of nine schools of its type in the local authority. It currently ranks sixth in the area by Progress 8, placing it in the bottom half of Torbay’s secondary schools. The top-performing peers locally are Torquay Girls’ Grammar School, Torquay Boys’ Grammar School, and Churston Ferrers Grammar School Academy, all of which are selective grammar schools with positive Progress 8 scores. Brixham College’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in 2023, rated the school as Requires Improvement overall, a downgrade from its previous Good rating in 2014. The inspection found that the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management all require improvement, though sixth-form provision and personal development were judged to be Good. The school is led by headteacher Rebecca Blackshaw and has 1,053 pupils on roll, just above its official capacity of 1,050.

Academically, Brixham College’s Progress 8 score for the 2023/24 academic year was -0.74, which is well below the national average and significantly lower than the Torbay local authority average of -0.4. This means pupils at the school make less progress than their peers across the country. The Attainment 8 score stands at 37.2, and just 30.2% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is low at 19.2%, and only 3.3% of pupils achieved the EBacc at grade 5 or above. At A-level, the school’s value-added score is -0.03, which is broadly average, and the average points per entry is 24.83, equivalent to a D+ grade. The best three A-levels average out at a C- grade. The sixth form is small, with 42 pupils, and was rated Good by Ofsted, offering a more positive picture than the main school.

The school offers a wide range of facilities including an ICT suite, art studios, a theatre, tennis courts, and a sixth form centre. Sports on offer include football, rugby, cricket, gymnastics, and cross country, while clubs range from Film Club and Debate to Young Enterprise and Model UN. Brixham College has a comprehensive set of SEND provisions, covering needs from dyslexia and moderate learning difficulties to autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and physical disabilities. The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 262 applications for 169 places, with 139 first-preference offers made from 140 first-preference applications. This suggests strong local demand despite the Requires Improvement rating. Families considering Brixham College should weigh its inclusive SEND support and broad extracurricular offer against the academic outcomes, which currently sit well below both the local and national averages.

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