Tavistock has two senior schools: Tavistock College which is a Local Education Authority day-school having Language College and Technology College status, and Kelly College which is an independent day and boarding school. There are 1872 pupils and 109 full time equivalent teaching staff at Tavistock College and 320 pupils and 30 full time equivalent teaching staff at Kelly College. A summary of qualifications achieved in 2003 is:

Tavistock College: 54% of pupils obtained five or more GCSEs with grades A*-C and 92% obtained five or more GCSEs with grades A*-G. At A2 and AS level, the average UCAS points achieved by each candidate taking two or more examinations were 224.4 (boys), 270 (girls), 258.2 (all).

Kelly College: 91% of pupils obtained five or more GCSEs with grades A*-C and 100% obtained five or more GCSEs with grades A*-G. At A2 and AS level, the average UCAS points achieved by each candidate taking two or more examinations were 312.