Hele's School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Plymouth
Seymour Road, Plymouth, PL7 4LT
68
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
82%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.0%
19.8% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,378
Capacity used
Over capacity102%
1,349 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
82%
1st preference success rate
219 of 267 families who put it first got an offer
230
Places offered
586
Total applications
2.5
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 267 | 219 | ● 82% |
| 2nd preference | 207 | 10 | ● 5% |
| 3rd preference | 112 | 1 | ● 1% |
| Total | 586 | 230 | 39% |
1st preference success by year
Plymouth lets families list 3 preferences. 47 applications came from outside the council area (8 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Emma Clapham
- Address
- Seymour Road, Plympton, Plymouth, PL7 4LT
- Phone
- 01752337193
- Local authority
- Plymouth
- Ward / constituency
- Plympton St Mary · South West Devon
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 136557
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 17% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 5% | — | — |
| SEN support | 13% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: WESTCOUNTRY SCHOOLS TRUST
1,378 pupils · 1,349 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
23 March 2023
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,208 pupils
Attendance
92.0%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.0%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
19.8%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.9%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 47.3 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.09 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 45% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 69% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.45 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 31.55 | — | — |
Average grade: C (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 50.7 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 54.4% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 75.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 57.4% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.72 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 237 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 33.73 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 10.6% | 17% |
| A-level students | 111 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 230 | 22% | 67% | 86% | |
| Combined Science | 230 | 16% | 55% | 78% | |
| English Language | 230 | 18% | 59% | 80% | |
| English Literature | 230 | 18% | 65% | 81% | |
| History | 136 | 35% | 69% | 81% | |
| Geography | 102 | 22% | 60% | 77% | |
| French | 86 | 26% | 87% | 94% | |
| German | 63 | 35% | 67% | 86% | |
| Art and Design | 62 | 10% | 52% | 63% | |
| Religious Studies | 61 | 33% | 75% | 89% | |
| Business | 59 | 22% | 59% | 83% | |
| Design & Technology | 54 | 26% | 59% | 74% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 31 | 0% | 3% | 35% | |
| Mathematics | 29 | 10% | 21% | 48% | |
| History | 24 | 0% | 21% | 42% | |
| Biology | 19 | 5% | 11% | 58% | |
| Business Studies | 18 | 0% | 11% | 44% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 18 | 0% | 0% | 72% | |
| Physics | 15 | 0% | 13% | 27% | |
| Geography | 13 | 0% | 15% | 38% | |
| Sociology | 13 | 0% | 23% | 62% | |
| Chemistry | 12 | 0% | 8% | 58% | |
| Physical Education / Sports Studies | 12 | 0% | 0% | 17% | |
| English Literature | 11 | 0% | 18% | 36% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #352 of 1,857 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 10470: Hele's School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Applications | <3 |
| Offers | <3 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | <3 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 53% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 12% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 56% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Plymouth council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.