Begdale House School, Wisbech

Special
Other independent special school
Mixed
Ages 1017

Data last updated 11 Sept 2026

Location

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Mrs Jo Murray
Pupils:31 / 36 capacity
LA:Cambridgeshire
Phone:01945860055
Address:Begdale Road, Elm, Wisbech, PE14 0AZ
Admissions:Not applicable
Status:open
Opened:17 September 2010

Ofsted Rating

Ofsted · 3 months ago

Report card - no overall grade (new Ofsted framework from Sep 2024)

Achievement
Expected Standard
Behaviour
Expected Standard
Personal Development
Expected Standard
Leadership
Expected Standard
Inspected 2 June 2026View full report
URN:136236
UKPRN:10071810
Diocese:Not applicable
Constituency:North East Cambridgeshire
Urban/Rural:Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

What This School Does Well

Begdale House School specialises in welcoming pupils who have had negative experiences of education and missed significant periods of schooling. Through caring, attentive staff and well-matched support, pupils rebuild their confidence and successfully re-engage with learning. The school goes beyond academics, offering enriching experiences like community trips and specialist sessions that help pupils discover new interests and aspirations for their futures.

Key Strengths

  • Excellent support for attendance - staff are relentless in helping pupils and families overcome barriers to school attendance, with many pupils significantly improving after years of absence
  • Strong pastoral care and safeguarding culture - pupils feel safe and valued, with well-trained staff providing effective emotional and mental health support
  • Effective reading support - leaders have put in place a strong approach to help pupils at early stages of learning to read, building confidence and fluency
  • Positive behaviour and relationships - pupils behave well, respect staff and each other, bullying is rare, and pupils enjoy being part of the school community
  • Enriching curriculum experiences - trips to local and wider community venues (such as Imperial War Museum Duxford and beach clean activities) help bring learning to life

Areas for Improvement

  • Teachers need to use assessment more consistently to match work precisely to pupils' prior knowledge and adapt teaching accordingly
  • Leaders should develop more systematic methods for analysing monitoring information to better adjust support and interventions
  • Some inconsistency in how well staff adapt the curriculum to pupils' starting points, which can slow learning progress

Safeguarding

Safeguarding standards are met - leaders have established an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, concerns are actively identified and acted upon, and pupils are made safer and feel safe.

Extracurricular Activities

Cookery lessons, robotics sessions, football, indoor games, community trips (Imperial War Museum Duxford, beach clean activities), careers fairs, college visits, substance abuse awareness workshops

Begdale House School is a specialist school for pupils with education, health and care plans related to social, emotional and mental health needs. The school has established effective processes to help pupils who have experienced significant disruption to their education re-engage with learning and achieve their potential.

At a Glance

No

Boarding

No

Nursery

No

Sixth Form

No

Special Measures

Class Sizes

0.0

Avg class size

0

Total classes

2024/25 academic year

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Capacity & Demand

School Occupancy

86%

Available places

31 pupils

36 capacity

5 spare places available

Area Demand Pressure - Wisbech

Low pressure
New homes approved:1,639
Projected new pupils:295

Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Wisbech

Admissions Demand - Cambridgeshire

Low demand0.95x oversubscription

Places available

7,188

Applications

6,820

Got 1st preference

88.2%

Got preferred school

96.3%

Secondary admissions across Cambridgeshire (2025/26)

Inspection History(10)

2 June 2026Report card
Achievement
Behaviour
Personal Development
Leadership
10 July 2024
6 June 2023

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SEN Provision

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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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