The Lodestar Academy
- Alternative provision
- Academy alternative provision sponsor led
- Ages 11 to 16
URN 144031 · Torbay · THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST
Inspection
Ofsted management information, as at 30 September 2026.
Latest graded inspection
21 November 2023Overall effectiveness
Good
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding is effective
- Yes
Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1
Under the earlier framework, inspections gave an overall effectiveness grade.
Earlier graded inspection
11 February 2020Overall effectiveness
Requires improvement
First full inspection as an academy
Under the earlier framework, inspections gave an overall effectiveness grade.
Read the reports on Ofsted’s website. Source: Ofsted, State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information.
Suspensions and permanent exclusions
Against Torbay and England, alternative provision.
Suspensions per 100 pupils
2024/25432.50
- Torbay
- 432.50
- England
- 248.42
184.08 higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Torbay | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 183.67 | 183.67 | 158.40 |
| 2018/19 | 235.29 | 235.29 | 191.09 |
| 2019/20 | 119.64 | 119.64 | 141.01 |
| 2020/21 | 140.00 | 140.00 | 139.24 |
| 2021/22 | 313.51 | 313.51 | 257.87 |
| 2022/23 | 339.53 | 339.53 | 284.98 |
| 2023/24 | 241.67 | 241.67 | 253.49 |
| 2024/25 | 432.50 | 432.50 | 248.42 |
Suspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. One pupil can be suspended more than once. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
2024/252.50
- Torbay
- 2.50
- England
- 0.30
2.20 higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Torbay | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.16 |
| 2018/19 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.22 |
| 2019/20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.11 |
| 2020/21 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.13 |
| 2021/22 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.22 |
| 2022/23 | 4.65 | 4.65 | 0.34 |
| 2023/24 | 2.08 | 2.08 | 0.25 |
| 2024/25 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 0.30 |
Permanent exclusions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Pupils
Against Torbay and England, alternative provision.
Eligible for free school meals
2024/2567.5%
- Torbay
- 67.5%
- England
- 63.2%
4.3 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Torbay | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 60.5% | 60.5% | 57.8% |
| 2023/24 | 64.6% | 64.6% | 60.7% |
| 2024/25 | 67.5% | 67.5% | 63.2% |
Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals on census day in January. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
SEN support
2024/2562.5%
- Torbay
- 62.5%
- England
- 57.1%
5.4 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Torbay | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53.5% | 53.5% | 57.0% |
| 2023/24 | 50.0% | 50.0% | 58.1% |
| 2024/25 | 62.5% | 62.5% | 57.1% |
Pupils receiving special educational needs support without an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Education, health and care plan
2024/250.0%
- Torbay
- 0.0%
- England
- 26.3%
26.3 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Torbay | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 25.5% |
| 2023/24 | 2.1% | 2.1% | 24.2% |
| 2024/25 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 26.3% |
Pupils with an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
First language other than English
2024/250.0%
- Torbay
- 0.0%
- England
- 7.6%
7.6 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Torbay | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8.0% |
| 2023/24 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.6% |
Pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Teachers
Against Torbay and England, alternative provision.
Pupils per qualified teacher
2025/264.8
- Torbay
- 7.4
- England
- 7.3
2.5 lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Torbay | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 10.7 | 7.7 | 6.7 |
| 2018/19 | 12.0 | 7.5 | 6.8 |
| 2019/20 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 7.0 |
| 2020/21 | 8.9 | 7.7 | 6.8 |
| 2021/22 | 6.4 | 7.7 | 6.9 |
| 2022/23 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 7.0 |
| 2023/24 | 6.4 | 8.0 | 7.1 |
| 2024/25 | 4.8 | 7.4 | 7.3 |
| 2025/26 | 4.8 | 7.4 | 7.3 |
Full-time equivalent pupils for each full-time equivalent qualified teacher. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2025/26.
Teacher sickness absence
2024/258.9 days
- Torbay
- 4.7 days
- England
- 5.0 days
3.9 days higher than England.
Compared with all state-funded schools: DfE publishes this measure for all schools, not by phase.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Torbay | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 3.7 days | 3.9 days | 4.0 days |
| 2018/19 | 11.4 days | 4.2 days | 4.0 days |
| 2019/20 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| 2020/21 | 12.4 days | 3.4 days | 3.9 days |
| 2021/22 | 12.5 days | 6.3 days | 6.3 days |
| 2022/23 | 5.4 days | 5.6 days | 5.2 days |
| 2023/24 | 2.8 days | 5.9 days | 5.3 days |
| 2024/25 | 8.9 days | 4.7 days | 5.0 days |
Days lost to sickness absence in the school year, averaged across all teachers. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2024/25.
Finance
Academies report their accounts as part of their trust, so DfE publishes no school-level balance for this school. The trust’s figures are in DfE’s Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool.
See this school in the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool
About the school
- Pupils on roll
- 38
- Capacity
- 56
- Type
- Academy alternative provision sponsor led
- Phase
- Alternative provision
- Age range
- 11 to 16
- Sixth form
- Does not have a sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST
- Opened
- 1 April 2017
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Constituency
- Torbay
- Deprivation of the area (IDACI)
- Decile 4 of 10 (1 is the most deprived tenth of neighbourhoods)
Sources and corrections
Every figure on this page names its source and period. This release was built on 20 October 2026.
- Department for Education: Get Information about Schools: establishment data (GIAS establishment extract 2026-10-20)
- Ofsted: State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information (Latest inspections as at 2026-09-30; All inspections, 2018/19; All inspections, 2019/20; All inspections, 2020/21; All inspections, 2021/22; All inspections, 2022/23; All inspections, 2023/24; All inspections, 2024/25; All inspections, 2025/26)
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Pupil absence in schools in England (absence-3term-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England (exc-school, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-geography, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-geography, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 2 attainment (ks2-school, 2022/23 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; ks2-geography, 2015/16 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 4 performance (ks4-school, 2023/24 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ks4-geography, 2018/19 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Schools, pupils and their characteristics (School census, January 2022 (performance tables, 2021 to 2022); School census, January 2023 (performance tables, 2022 to 2023); School census, January 2024 (performance tables, 2023 to 2024); School census, January 2025 (performance tables, 2024 to 2025))
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: School workforce in England (ptr-school, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ptr-geography, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; sickness-school, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; sickness-geography, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: English indices of deprivation 2025: Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (English indices of deprivation 2025, File 7 (2021 LSOAs))
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