Hello cupcakes - I moved from N Devon a year ago (lived in Ilfracombe) and my dd was at school there for 6 years,so if you have any specifics please ask and I will try to help.
School wise, most of the secondaries are large and have a very large catchment area, so if you lived in a village you may find that your kids would have an extensive bus ride to school when they get to that age.
I don't know much about Great Torrington and South Molton primaries, but they are rather bleak towns with not much going on, even though property is probably cheaper there than round Braunton and Barnstaple. Locally, the primaries with teh best reputation (I used to work in schools down there) were West Down (excellent rep, beacon school etc), Georgeham and Marwood - all of these are near Braunton. Sadly, Braunton and the outlying areas are the most expensive in N Devon (but the nicest!). However, the majority of schools in Barnstaple have a good reputation as well.
One to look at would be Combe Martin, a village about 5 miles away from Ilfracombe. There is usually a good range of property which is more reasonably priced than Barnstaple/Braunton, and a good local school in Combe Martin itself, and a smaller one in the nearby (lovely) village of Berrynarbor. Combe Martin is quite a long village, has its own beach and is a traditional old Devon seaside village, but big enough to have a variety of shops (and lots of pubs!). You should be able to easily get a decent house for the money you have to spend.
Ilfracombe is another area which is generally cheaper than barnstaple/Braunton, however the schools are a lot larger - 1 large infants and 1 large juniors. My daughter attended these 2 schools and I found them very good, even though in an ideal world I would have sent her to a smaller village school which wouldf have been my preference. However, she did very well at these schools and the teachers were great.
Anything else you need to know ask!