Castle Wood Special School, Coventry
Castle Wood Special School is a special school for pupils aged 3 to 11 in Coventry. It was rated Requires improvement at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in July 2024.
- Ofsted
- Requires improvement (2024)
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
Castle Wood Special School in detail
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other special schools to Castle Wood Special School are Waterside School (2.1 miles); Park View (2.3 miles, Good); The Warwickshire Academy (2.4 miles); and Exhall Grange Specialist School (2.4 miles, Good).
Waterside SchoolPark ViewThe Warwickshire AcademyExhall Grange Specialist School
Who goes there
33.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, and 27.8% speak English as an additional language, according to the 2026 school census.
The largest ethnic groups are White British (34%), Asian (24%) and Black (23%).
Almost every pupil at Castle Wood Special School has an education, health and care plan (194 of 194 in 2026). The most common need among them is autism.
Castle Wood Special School provides for pupils with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech, language and communication needs, autism, social, emotional and mental health needs, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Coventry Arena Rail Station, about 1.6 miles away in a straight line.
12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Moat House Centre (adjacent), 180 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Castle Wood Special School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Castle Wood Special School issued 9 suspensions, 5.4 for every 100 pupils, and 1 permanent exclusion.
Sources: DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoOverall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted's report, in its own words
What is it like to attend this school?
Pupils are well cared for and happy at Castle Wood Special School. All staff know pupils well. Pupils, parents and carers are made to feel welcome. Consequently, pupils settle quickly when they arrive at the school.
The curriculum sets out to support the broad and complex range of needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils with multiple and complex learning needs work at the early stages of the curriculum. Staff focus on small steps of learning to support areas, such as physical development, shared attention and vocalisation. However, in other parts of the curriculum teachers are not clear about what to teach and when. This slows down learning, particularly for pupils who are ready and capable of moving on to more rigorous and demanding work. Consequently, the expectations for some pupils are not always high enough.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
The curriculum offers a broad range of subject areas. In some parts of the curriculum, such as physical development, the precise knowledge and skills the school wants pupils to learn are clearly identified. Teachers know exactly what essential knowledge they should teach and in what order. Pupils build on their prior knowledge and skills in a logical way. As a result, in these parts of the curriculum, pupils achieve well across the school. However, in many other parts of the curriculum this is not the case. In subjects such as mathematics and science, for instance, the precise knowledge the school wants pupils to know is not clearly defined or ambitious enough. For some pupils, this limits their achievement.
Staff have a secure understanding of the barriers pupils may have to learning. These include sensory, behavioural and communication needs. The school engages well with external agencies, such as occupational therapists, to quickly put in place support for pupils. As a result, the complex range of needs of pupils are mostly well supported.
From Ofsted's July 2024 inspection report: the opening paragraphs of each section, quoted word for word. Read the full report Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Ofsted Insights
Ofsted rated this school Requires Improvement at its July 2024 inspection.
Rated Good for
Behaviour & attitudes, Personal development.
Areas Ofsted flagged
Quality of education (Requires Improvement), Leadership & management (Requires Improvement), Early years (Requires Improvement).
At a Glance
33.5%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
SpLD, Vision, Hearing +8
SEN Provision
No
Special Measures
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby schools
Keep up with Castle Wood Special School
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Castle Wood Special School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Castle Wood Special School is in Coventry; for families living there:
Apply to Coventry for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 9
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 3
- Children hurt
- 5
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 9 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 6 slight.
5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 4 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
5 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Coventry is 14 (the median across 130 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
121%
Over capacity
194 pupils
160 places
34 pupils over capacity
as recorded on GIAS
Area Demand Pressure - Coventry
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Coventry
Across Coventry council
Places available
4,567
Applications
4,348
Got 1st preference
82.1%
Got preferred school
94.6%
All secondary applications across Coventry council (2026/27), not just this school.
Inspection History(5)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
0
SEN Support
194
EHC Plans
100.0%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Castle Wood Special School provides for pupils with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech, language and communication needs, autism, social, emotional and mental health needs, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties.
Source: GIAS, Department for Education.
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
194
Total Pupils
143
Boys
51
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
24
Teachers
8.1:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£55,267
Mean salary
2026 data
Pupil Absence2024/25
12.1%
Overall absence
41.1%
Persistent absence
158
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Linked Schools
Schools linked by geographic proximity
Questions parents ask about Castle Wood Special School
What are SATs results like at Castle Wood Special School?
Of the pupils at Castle Wood Special School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 0% reached the expected standard in reading and 0% did so in maths.
What is Castle Wood Special School's Ofsted rating?
Castle Wood Special School was rated Requires Improvement at its most recent Ofsted inspection in July 2024. At its previous graded inspection in 2015 it was rated Outstanding.
What is the catchment area for Castle Wood Special School?
No fixed boundary. When Castle Wood Special School is oversubscribed, Coventry allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
How many pupils go to Castle Wood Special School?
Castle Wood Special School has around 194 pupils on roll. 34% are eligible for free school meals.
Does Castle Wood Special School have specialist SEN provision?
Castle Wood Special School provides for pupils with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech, language and communication needs, autism, social, emotional and mental health needs, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties.
What is attendance like at Castle Wood Special School?
12.1% of sessions were missed at Castle Wood Special School in 2024/25. 41.1% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Castle Wood Special School?
Apply through Coventry's coordinated admissions process, naming Castle Wood Special School on your application. The national closing date in England is 31 October for secondary places and 15 January for primary places, in the year before your child starts.
How many road collisions happen near Castle Wood Special School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 9 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 6 slight. 5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 4 on foot and 1 on a bicycle. 5 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Coventry is 14 (the median across 130 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Castle Wood Special School?
Castle Wood Special School is at 50 Deedmore Road, Coventry, West Midlands, CV2 1FN.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)