A Guide to Schools in the South Hams
As the new school year gets underway, it feels like a good moment to put together an overview of education across the South Hams, from pre-school to sixth form, state to independent, and a handful of alternative education settings. It’s a topic that comes up often with buyers moving to the area with family in tow, or as plans grow.
This is a starting point, not a ranked list or final word. Every family weighs things differently, and school priorities that matter to one household won’t matter for another. So please do your homework too: visit if you can, read the inspection reports, not just the headline grade, and speak to the schools. Catchment areas in particular are worth checking early and carefully, as they can be tightly drawn around individual villages or postcodes and change year on year. The local authority’s admissions pages are the best source, and it’s worth confirming a property actually falls within the catchment you want before you get too attached to it.
A note on terms
Devon’s schools fall into a few different categories, and the language can be confusing even for parents who grew up here. State schools are funded by the government and free to attend. This includes community schools, run directly by the local authority, and academies, which are independently managed but still state-funded and free. Most South Hams secondary schools are now academies. Independent or private schools charge fees and are not part of the state system. Confusingly, some of the oldest and best-known of these are still called public schools, a historic term rather than a description of funding. Alongside all of this sit a small number of schools with a distinctly different educational philosophy, covered below.
Early years: nurseries and pre-schools
These tend to be small and village-based rather than chains, which suits the South Hams' scattered rural character. Kingsbridge has several long-established options, including St Malo under 5s, a committee-run pre-school with a strong outdoor area, while villages such as Malborough have their own pre-school attached to the primary school, easing the transition to reception age. For families drawn to a more nature-led start, Venture Outdoor Kindergarten has three locations offering outdoor-based learning and wellbeing sessions, at the heart of the South Hams, as part of a small but growing outdoor education scene.
Primary schools
Primary education across the South Hams is largely delivered through small, community-focused schools, many of them in Victorian buildings at the heart of their villages, with a total of 46 schools in the area. Kingsbridge, Dartmouth, Modbury, Totnes, and the surrounding villages each have at least one primary school, ranging in size from 30 pupils per class to 30 pupils in the whole school, and several church-based schools are among them. For families, this often means a genuine sense of continuity: children starting in reception frequently move on to the local secondary school alongside the same small group of friends.
Secondary Schools
The area’s main state secondaries are academies rather than council-run schools, and there’s no grammar school within the South Hams itself, the nearest selective options are Torquay and Plymouth, both requiring a longer commute. Locally:
• Kingsbridge Academy, serving Kingsbridge and the surrounding villages with a sixth form for students aged 16 - 18
• King Edward VI Community College, in Totnes, an 11–18 school, also with sixth form
• Dartmouth Academy, an all-through school, including nursery, primary and secondary school serving the town
• Ivybridge Community College, accepting pupil from 100 square miles of the South Hams from 14 contributory primary schools.
Most of these belong to Education South West, one of the multi-academy trusts operating in this part of Devon.
Independent schools
There are very few fee-paying schools within the South Hams boundary itself, so independent education usually means a longer school run or boarding. The two most commonly mentioned by South Hams families are Stover School, near Newton Abbot, a co-educational day and boarding school for ages 3–18, and Mount Kelly, near Tavistock, also a day and boarding school for ages 3–18 with a strong sporting reputation. Plymouth College is another option for families on the western side of the district. Several of these schools run minibus routes into the South Hams, which is worth checking if daily travel time is a concern.
A more nature-led approach
For parents who would rather their children spent less time behind a desk and more time outdoors, the South Hams and its immediate surroundings have a genuine cluster of alternative options, largely centred on Totnes and Dartington, an area with a long history of progressive education.
• South Devon Steiner School, in Dartington, follows the Steiner-Waldorf approach, with an emphasis on creativity, the natural world and a slower introduction to formal academics.
• Sands School, in Ashburton, is a small democratic secondary school where pupils have a genuine say in how the school is run, and where personal development sits alongside academic study.
• Totnes Progressive School and River Dart Academy, both in the Totnes and Dartington area, similarly emphasise a nurturing, less conventional environment, particularly for children who have not thrived in a mainstream setting.
None of these should be assumed to be a soft option academically; most simply reach the same destination by a different route, but they are worth knowing about if a nature-led or child-led philosophy matters to your family.
On Ofsted, and choosing well
State schools in England are inspected by Ofsted, with ratings ranging from Outstanding to Inadequate, while independent schools are inspected separately. Ratings are a useful starting point, but they are only a snapshot, and sometimes several years old, so it is always worth reading the full report rather than relying on the headline grade. A visit is equally important, and most schools hold open mornings in the autumn term. Word of mouth also counts for a great deal here: in villages this size, most people know someone with a child at the school you are considering.
Whatever stage you are at, the South Hams’ schools reflect the character of the district itself, small, close-knit and shaped by the landscape around them.
If you are thinking of moving to the area and want to make sure a particular home falls within reach of the right school or catchment, get in touch with your local Marchand Petit office.
Our teams in Dartmouth, Kingsbridge, Modbury, Newton Ferrers, Salcombe and Totnes know these villages and their schools well, and we are always happy to help you find the right home for your family.