The Meadows School, Oldbury

Ofsted's report card from its 3 February 2026 inspection grades The Meadows School on 7 areas: 7 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Expected standard. "Pupils make steady progress from their starting points."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Most pupils attend regularly, even though many have complex medical needs that can affect their attendance."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "The curriculum now meets the wide-ranging needs of pupils."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Staff identify pupils' needs well."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders act with integrity, commitment and kindness."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Pupils' personal development has been a significant focus for leaders."

Post 16 provision - Expected standard. "Post-16 students follow programmes that are designed around their individual needs, starting points and long-term goals."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue strengthening the quality of teaching so all staff understand and apply agreed approaches consistently"; "Leaders should ensure that staff accurately identify gaps in learning when they occur and make appropriate adaptations to enable pupils to learn the curriculum as intended"; "Leaders should continue to develop leadership at all levels to support improvement and enable leaders to monitor actions effectively"; "Leaders should further strengthen partnerships with parents and carers so families are more confident in supporting their children's education and future ambitions".

In its own words: "The Meadows School is one of Sandwell's four special schools and caters to pupils aged 11-19, Our school meets the needs of students with complex, profound and multiple learning difficulties, associated communication and language difficulties and challenging behaviours. Many of our students also have acute medical needs."

From the headteacher's welcome: "It is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you to The Meadows School, a specialist provision for students aged 11 to 19 years of age. The Meadows School provides education to students with a wide range of special educational needs through a personalised learning approach."

The nearest other special schools to The Meadows School are Dudley Port School (1.2 miles, Requires improvement); Compass Community School Victoria Park (1.5 miles, Good); The Orchard School (1.9 miles, Requires improvement); and The Westminster School (2 miles, Good).

25 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Meadows School (as of April 2026): 100% would recommend the school and 96% say their child is happy there.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (100%); the weakest, that pupils behave well (88%).

Of the 30 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 100% stayed in education or training for at least two terms.

59.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, and 35.1% speak English as an additional language, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (37%), Asian (33%) and Black (12%).

Almost every pupil at The Meadows School has an education, health and care plan (262 of 262 in 2026). The most common need among them is a severe learning difficulty.

The Meadows School has a SEN unit for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, visual impairment, other difficulties or disabilities, 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: 215 places, 306 pupils on roll.

The nearest railway station is Sandwell & Dudley Rail Station, about 0.8 miles away in a straight line.

6 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is The Meadows School (adjacent), 90 metres away.

The Meadows School recorded no suspensions or permanent exclusions in 2024/25.