Cambian Great Dunmow School, Essex
Data last updated 11 Sept 2026
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 1 year agoOverall
Ofsted Insights
What This School Does Well
This school excels at meeting pupils' emotional and social needs through warm, caring staff relationships and consistent behaviour support. Pupils are highly motivated and show real resilience in their learning, benefiting from a well-designed curriculum tailored to their individual needs. The school offers a wide range of exciting enrichment activities and real-world learning experiences that inspire pupils and help them discover interests for their futures.
Key Strengths
- Staff skilfully help pupils manage their feelings and emotions through strong relationships and consistent behaviour approaches
- Pupils achieve well despite previous education disruption, with staff providing tailored support to turn attitudes to learning around
- The school offers an expanding range of exciting enrichment activities including car mechanics, parkour, and skiing that inspire pupils to learn new skills
- Well-trained staff quickly identify pupils needing reading support and have successfully improved pupils' reading confidence and habits
- Carefully designed PSHE curriculum helps pupils develop important life skills such as forming healthy relationships
Areas for Improvement
- Teachers do not have a consistent, clearly understood approach to teaching writing across subjects, which limits pupils' writing development in depth and accuracy
- Careers education is only at early stages of implementation, so pupils don't receive consistent depth of information to inform their future choices
- Careers education needs to be fully embedded throughout the curriculum to better support pupils' transitions to next stages
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective with strong safeguarding culture that prioritises pupils' interests.
Extracurricular Activities
Car mechanics, parkour, skiing, library reading activities
Cambian Great Dunmow School is a special school for pupils aged 11-19 with social, emotional and mental health needs. The school has made significant improvements and is now rated Good overall, up from Requires Improvement at the previous inspection.
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
Getting There
Bus Stops
Commute Calculator
Find out if this school is reachable from your home - before you apply
What are my chances?
Enter your postcode to estimate your probability of getting a place.
Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
60%
Available places
15 pupils
25 capacity
10 spare places available
Area Demand Pressure - Essex
Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Essex
Admissions Demand - Essex
Places available
17,576
Applications
16,788
Got 1st preference
83.8%
Got preferred school
97.1%
Secondary admissions across Essex (2025/26)
House Prices
Moving into the catchment? See what homes near this school actually cost
SEN Provision
How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.
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.
Reviews
No reviews yet - be the first to leave one.
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Cambian Great Dunmow School
Nearby Schools
Do you work at this school?
Claim your profile free to get a verified badge, update your contact details, and see how many parents are viewing your page.