The Mile House Therapeutic School, Sulhamstead
The Mile House Therapeutic School is a special school for pupils aged 11 to 16 in Sulhamstead. It was rated Requires improvement at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in July 2025.
- Ofsted
- Requires improvement (2025)
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
The Mile House Therapeutic School in detail
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other special schools to The Mile House Therapeutic School are Haywards Farm School (1.3 miles, Outstanding); The Avenue Special School (3.8 miles, Good); Thames Valley School (3.8 miles, Good); and The Holy Brook School (3.9 miles, Good).
Haywards Farm SchoolThe Avenue Special SchoolThames Valley SchoolThe Holy Brook School
What parents say
13 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Mile House Therapeutic School (as of September 2025): 92% would recommend the school, 85% say their child is happy there and 75% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (92%); the weakest, that pupils behave well (69%).
Who goes there
Almost every pupil at The Mile House Therapeutic School has an education, health and care plan (40 of 40 in 2026).
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Theale Rail Station, about 1.4 miles away in a straight line.
4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Spring Inn (opposite), 200 metres away.
Sources: Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport)
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 1 year agoOverall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Safeguarding: effective
Independent school standards
Met all the independent school standards.
- Part 1: quality of educationMet
- Part 2: pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural developmentMet
- Part 3: welfare, health and safetyMet
- Part 4: suitability of staff and proprietorsMet
- Part 5: premises and accommodationMet
- Part 6: information for parentsMet
- Part 7: handling of complaintsMet
- Part 8: leadership and managementMet
Source: Ofsted, non-association independent schools inspections and outcomes (Open Government Licence)
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's July 2025 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
The school excels at understanding and supporting each pupil's emotional and mental health needs through expert staff and therapeutic interventions. Pupils develop strong, trusting relationships with staff and benefit from a family-like atmosphere where they feel valued and part of the community. The school also does excellent work preparing older pupils for independent adult life through tailored work experience, life skills training, and highly individualised careers guidance.
Key Strengths
- Excellent understanding of pupils' complex emotional and mental health needs with skilled, sensitive staff support
- Strong therapeutic approach to behaviour management creating a calm, positive school environment
- Well-designed careers and life skills programme preparing pupils effectively for post-16 education, training or employment
- Effective reading support for pupils at early stages
- High priority on attendance with good relationships established between school and families
Areas for Improvement
- Curriculum in some subjects remains underdeveloped with unclear teaching sequences and gaps in staff subject expertise
- Assessment methods do not consistently match what pupils are actually learning, making it hard to identify knowledge gaps
- Some of the most vulnerable pupils still have poor attendance despite improvement efforts
- Leadership capacity needs further development to ensure consistent practice across the whole school
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with detailed information about each pupil used well to meet their needs and keep them safe.
Extracurricular Activities
Cultural events, voting activities, work experience, life skills programmes, play therapy, occupational therapy, expressive arts therapy
The Mile House Therapeutic School is a specialist school for pupils aged 11-16 with social, emotional and mental health needs and/or autism. Overall effectiveness requires improvement, though behaviour, attitudes, and personal development are rated as good.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
13 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby schools
Keep up with The Mile House Therapeutic School
Getting There
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 5
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 1
- Children hurt
- 0
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 5 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 1 serious and 4 slight.
No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt.
1 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 West Berkshire is 3 (the median across 99 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
80%
Available places
40 pupils
50 places
10 spare places
as recorded on GIAS
Across West Berkshire council
Places available
2,143
Applications
1,680
Got 1st preference
94.9%
Got preferred school
99.0%
All secondary applications across West Berkshire council (2026/27), not just this school.
Inspection History(5)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
0
SEN Support
40
EHC Plans
100.0%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
The Mile House Therapeutic School is not approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
Source: GIAS, Department for Education.
Pupils by Need Type
No need-level breakdown available
Pupil Demographics
Key Indicators
40
Total Pupils
26
Boys
14
Girls
2026 academic year
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
The Mile House Therapeutic School
Questions parents ask about The Mile House Therapeutic School
What are GCSE results like at The Mile House Therapeutic School?
The Department for Education's GCSE measures do not count IGCSEs, which many independent schools take instead of GCSEs, so the Attainment 8 and English and maths figures it publishes for The Mile House Therapeutic School can understate its results. We do not rank or compare them; ask the school for its own GCSE and IGCSE results.
What is The Mile House Therapeutic School's Ofsted rating?
The Mile House Therapeutic School was rated Requires Improvement at its most recent Ofsted inspection in July 2025.
Does The Mile House Therapeutic School meet the independent school standards?
At its most recent standard inspection, in July 2025, The Mile House Therapeutic School met all the independent school standards.
How many pupils go to The Mile House Therapeutic School?
The Mile House Therapeutic School has around 40 pupils on roll.
Does The Mile House Therapeutic School have specialist SEN provision?
The Mile House Therapeutic School is not approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
How do I apply to The Mile House Therapeutic School?
The Mile House Therapeutic School is an independent school and runs its own admissions rather than going through the local authority. Contact the school directly for entry requirements, assessment dates, fees and any bursaries.
How many road collisions happen near The Mile House Therapeutic School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 5 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 1 serious and 4 slight. No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt. 1 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 West Berkshire is 3 (the median across 99 schools, same distance and years).
Where is The Mile House Therapeutic School?
The Mile House Therapeutic School is at Bath Road, Sulhamstead, Sulhamstead, RG7 5HJ.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)