Abbot's Lea School, Liverpool

Outstanding
Special
Community special school
Mixed
Ages 319

Data last updated 11 Sept 2026

Location

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Mrs Ania Hildrey
Pupils:272 / 272 capacity
LA:Liverpool
Phone:01514281161
Address:Beaconsfield Road, Woolton, Liverpool, L25 6EE
Admissions:Not applicable
Status:open

Ofsted Rating

Outstanding

Overall

URN:104736
UKPRN:10017283
Diocese:Not applicable
Constituency:Liverpool Garston
Urban/Rural:Urban: Nearer to a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

What This School Does Well

Abbot's Lea excels at helping pupils with very low starting points achieve outstanding progress in core skills and personal development. Teachers build strong relationships and plan lessons tailored to each pupil's needs, while the school expertly balances academic learning with practical life skills. Parents praise the outstanding communication and partnership approach that supports their children's excellent progress.

Key Strengths

  • Outstanding teaching that leads to exceptional progress in reading, writing, mathematics and communication skills
  • Strong leadership with high expectations that drive continuous improvement across all areas
  • Excellent curriculum balance between academic learning and life skills, including community visits and residential trips
  • Highly effective safeguarding with regular staff training in child protection and Prevent strategy
  • Strong parental satisfaction and excellent home-school communication

Areas for Improvement

  • Middle leaders need to evaluate more precisely the impact of their whole-school projects on pupil learning to fine-tune their actions
  • Support staff appraisal systems could better highlight the impact support staff have on pupil progress

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is effective - leaders take safeguarding seriously with regular training for all staff in child protection, first aid, Prevent strategy, and awareness of bullying including homophobic and transphobic bullying.

Extracurricular Activities

Residential visits, community visits, physical activity and sports, sensory equipment activities, outdoor play

Abbot's Lea School is an outstanding special school where excellent leadership and teaching enable pupils with complex needs to make exceptional academic and personal progress. The school has improved significantly since its previous inspection through relentless focus on high expectations and pupil achievement.

At a Glance

65.8%

Free School Meals

No

Boarding

Yes

Nursery

Yes

Sixth Form

SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder

SEN Provision

No

Special Measures

Primary Performance (KS2)

Academic year 2025/26

KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)

2024
2025
ReadingMathsWriting

Reading has remained stable at around 0%. Maths has remained stable at around 0%. Writing has remained stable at around 0%.

Class Sizes

0.0

Avg class size

0

Total classes

2024/25 academic year

Getting There

Bus Stops

Beaconsfield Road (adj)
298m · 5 min walk
Yew Tree Road (adj)
357m · 6 min walk
The Vineries (adj)
416m · 7 min walk
Vale Road (adj)
433m · 7 min walk
Druidsville Road (adj)
460m · 7 min walk
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Capacity & Demand

School Occupancy

100%

Over capacity

272 pupils

272 capacity

0 places over capacity

Area Demand Pressure - Liverpool

Low pressure
New homes approved:8,038
Projected new pupils:1,447

Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Liverpool

Admissions Demand - Liverpool

Low demand0.92x oversubscription

Places available

5,716

Applications

5,276

Got 1st preference

68.1%

Got preferred school

90.4%

Secondary admissions across Liverpool (2025/26)

Inspection History(107)

Date not published by Ofsted
Outstanding
Date not published by Ofsted
Outstanding
Date not published by Ofsted
Outstanding

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SEN Provision

How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.

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Pupil Demographics

The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.

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Teachers & Staff

Teacher qualification rates, pupil-to-teacher ratio, staff turnover, and salary data. Shows how well-resourced and stable the school's workforce is.

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Pupil Absence
2024/25

11.83506%

Overall absence

27.9476%

Persistent absence

229

Enrolments

Authorised6.78392%
Unauthorised5.05114%
Persistent (10%+)27.9476%
Severe (50%+)6.11354%

Absence trend

6.75457%
18/19
16.12092%
20/21
11.11726%
21/22
11.09522%
22/23
12.6324%
23/24
11.83506%
24/25
Overall absence rate

Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.

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