Coombe Dean School, opened in 1976, is an

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

on the outskirts of

Plymouth, Devon Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, England. , it had 995 pupils. The school has a

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

History

The school gained

specialist school Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialis ...

status in mathematics and computing in 2003. It became an

in 2012. In 2004, a teacher at the school was named secondary school teacher of the year by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.

Academic performance and inspections

In 1999, inspection by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

noted that "The majority of pupils on entry to the school have below average attainment. ... Overall, pupils make good progress and pupils with special needs make very good progress". In 2006, the school was judged Good. Inspectors noted that pupils "include significant numbers from areas of social disadvantage". In 2009, the school was judged Outstanding, with the comment that "In 2008, the school was placed in the top 4% of schools nationally for the progress which its students made between Year 7 and Year 11. This represents exceptional progress given their starting points". In 2012, inspection again found the school Outstanding. In 2018, the school was judged to Require Improvement: "Pupils do not make good progress across a range of subjects. ... Sixth-form students do not achieve well enough on applied general courses". , the school's most recent inspection was in 2022, with a judgement of Good. In 2024, the school's

Progress 8 benchmark The Progress 8 benchmark is an accountability measure used by the government of the United Kingdom to measure the effectiveness of secondary schools in England. It bands pupils into groups based on their scores in English and mathematics during th ...

was average. 53% of children achieved grade 5 or above in English and mathematics

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

s, compared to 46% across Plymouth and nationally. Progress at

A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

was average, and the average grade was C, compared to C+ in Plymouth as a whole and B- nationally.

Notable former pupils and staff

* Geoffrey Rees, educator, taught at the school from 1979-82

References

External links

*
Plymouth City Council Directory Listing

The school's records
at the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1976 Academies in Plymouth, Devon 1976 establishments in England Secondary schools in Plymouth, Devon