The Castle School
Community special school · Mixed · West Berkshire
Love Lane, Newbury, RG14 2JG
–
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Outstanding
No graded inspection
Application demand
—
No council data
Attendance
87.4%
42.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
228
Capacity used
Over capacity108%
212 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Details
- Type
- Community special school
- Age range
- 3–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- Has Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Paul Van Walwyk
- Address
- Love Lane, Donnington, Newbury, RG14 2JG
- Phone
- 0163542976
- Local authority
- West Berkshire
- Ward / constituency
- Newbury Speen · Newbury
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 110182
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 37% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 9% | — | — |
| SEN support | 0% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
228 pupils · 212 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
25 April 2024
Ungraded inspection
School remains Outstanding
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 157 pupils
Attendance
87.4%
Share of sessions attended · England 94.5%
Overall absence
12.6%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 5.5%
Persistent absence
42.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 14.6%
Severe absence
5.7%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.8%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
Primary results by subject (SATs)
Year 6 pupils meeting each standard, against England
Reading, writing & maths combined
Reading
Writing
Maths
Grammar, punctuation & spelling
Science
England average · Scaled scores run 80–120 (100 = expected standard).
Primary results over time
Expected standard (RWM) by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Expected standard (RWM) | 0% | 61% |
| Higher standard | 0% | 8% |
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils in cohort | 15 | — |
Oxbridge
No Cambridge applications recorded for this school in 2020–2025.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.