Birchwood
Birchwood is a pupil referral unit in Folkestone for boys and girls aged 14 to 16. It has 0 pupils and room for 44. About 0 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
Bowen Road, Folkestone, CT19 4FP0300 065 8450birchwoodpru.kent.sch.ukMs Jane Hollister headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 1 July 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 9 May 2024 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Kent council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 0% | – | – | – | – | – |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turner Free School | Free school | 80 m | 997 | Good 2022 | 25 | Compare |
| Morehall Primary School and Nursery | Academy | 300 m | 249 | Good 2019 | 84 | Compare |
| All Soul's Church of England Primary School | Academy | 480 m | 256 | Good 2023 | 26 | Compare |
| Harcourt Primary School | Foundation | 630 m | 179 | Report card 2026 | 40 | Compare |
| The Harvey Grammar School | Academy (grammar) | 800 m | 1,005 | Outstanding 2022 | 93 | Compare |
| Sandgate Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 419 | Report card 2026 | 92 | Compare |
| Cheriton Primary School | Foundation | 0.7 miles | 391 | No overall grade 2025 | 66 | Compare |
| Folkestone Primary | Academy | 0.9 miles | 460 | Good 2023 | 59 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Birchwood a good school?
Birchwood doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it not judged at its last inspection in July 2025.
What is Birchwood's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Birchwood not judged at its last full inspection on 1 July 2025.
How many pupils does Birchwood have?
0 pupils aged 14 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 44 places, so it is 0% full.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Bowen Road, Folkestone, CT19 4FP
- Telephone
- 0300 065 8450
- Website
- www.birchwoodpru.kent.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Ms Jane Hollister
- Type of school
- Pupil referral unit (Pupil referral unit, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 14-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Kent
- Ward
- Cheriton
- Constituency
- Folkestone and Hythe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 January 2008
- URN
- 135462 · LAESTAB 8861124 · UKPRN 10025590
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.