The Nest, Stoke-on-Trent

Special
Other independent special school
Mixed
Ages 717

Data last updated 11 Sept 2026

Location

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Mr Liam Barlow
Pupils:24 / 30 capacity
LA:Stoke-on-Trent
Phone:07990034611
Address:Brownhills Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 4JU
Status:open
Opened:26 January 2021

Ofsted Rating

Ofsted · 4 months ago

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

Achievement
Strong Standard
Behaviour
Strong Standard
Personal Development
Strong Standard
Leadership
Strong Standard
Inspected 19 May 2026View full report
URN:148131
Diocese:Not applicable
Constituency:Stoke-on-Trent North
Urban/Rural:Urban: Nearer to a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

What This School Does Well

The Nest creates a warm, welcoming environment where pupils who have struggled in mainstream schools thrive and feel truly valued. Staff know each pupil exceptionally well and provide tailored support that helps them develop confidence, gain qualifications, and take positive next steps. The school successfully helps pupils manage their behaviour and emotions, with older pupils becoming excellent role models who demonstrate independent, positive choices.

Key Strengths

  • Pupils make excellent progress in literacy and numeracy, closing knowledge gaps and gaining key qualifications
  • Attendance and behaviour are consistently positive with staff providing effective early intervention
  • Curriculum is precisely designed to meet pupils' needs with engaging out-of-classroom activities like fieldwork and cooking
  • All pupils feel safe and form trusting relationships with staff and peers
  • Comprehensive wellbeing support including personalised wellbeing plans for each pupil

Areas for Improvement

  • Continue to build on new approaches to reading to further improve pupils' knowledge and skills

Safeguarding

Safeguarding standards are met with an open and positive culture where all legal requirements are fulfilled, and pupils are made safer and feel safe.

Extracurricular Activities

Fieldwork for geography, shopping for personal financial skills practice, cooking for special events, trips to museums, places of work and places of worship, careers programme

The Nest is a specialist independent school for pupils with SEND and disrupted education histories, located in Stoke-on-Trent. The school has been rated as meeting strong standards across all areas of 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

White Horse (opp)
38m · 1 min walk
Washington Street (adj)
81m · 1 min walk
Gibson Street (adj)
139m · 2 min walk
Highgate (adj)
143m · 2 min walk
Brownhills Business Park (adj)
210m · 3 min walk
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Capacity & Demand

School Occupancy

80%

Available places

24 pupils

30 capacity

6 spare places available

Area Demand Pressure - Stoke-on-Trent

Low pressure
New homes approved:3,431
Projected new pupils:618

Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Stoke-on-Trent

Admissions Demand - Stoke-on-Trent

Low demand1.08x oversubscription

Places available

3,160

Applications

3,413

Got 1st preference

86.5%

Got preferred school

96.1%

Secondary admissions across Stoke-on-Trent (2025/26)

Inspection History(5)

19 May 2026Report card
Achievement
Behaviour
Personal Development
Leadership
4 July 2023
17 May 2022

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SEN Provision

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Pupil Demographics

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