Rosewood Free School
Rosewood Free School is a special free school in Southampton for boys and girls aged 2 to 19. It has 77 pupils and every place is taken. About 26 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2023.
Aldermoor Road, Southampton, SO16 5NA023 8057 1050rosewoodfreeschool.org.ukZoe Evans headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 12 October 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
4 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. Fewer than eleven pupils sat the exams, so the figures could identify individual children.
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
3 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | Southampton | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | – | 0% | – | – | – | – | 57% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | – | 0% | – | – | – | – | 7% | 8% |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | – | 0% | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | – | 0% | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | – | 0% | – | – | – | – | – | – |
There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.
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 Southampton council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, profound and multiple learning difficulties.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Southampton with multi-sensory impairment provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Profound and multiple learning difficulty (68), Severe learning difficulty (7), Physical disability (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 77 | 70 | 68 | 65 | 66 | 67 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 30% | 20% | 21% | 19% | 24% | 24% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 27% | 27% | 28% | 26% | 23% | 27% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 17% | 7% | 12% | 8% | 16% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 83% | 93% | 88% | 92% | 84% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.1% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 9.9% | 12.9% | 13.2% | 17.7% | 10.8% | 16.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 9.5% | 11.1% | 12.6% | 16.7% | 10.7% | 16.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.4% | 1.8% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 35.7% | 42.2% | 50.0% | 55.8% | 36.6% | 54.3% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 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 academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakwood Primary School | Foundation | 760 m | 419 | Report card 2026 | 23 | Compare |
| Hollybrook Infant School | Academy | 770 m | 160 | Good 2020 | 48 | Compare |
| Hollybrook Junior School | Academy | 820 m | 242 | Good 2024 | 42 | Compare |
| Southampton Hospital School | Academy alternative provision converter | 0.6 miles | 1 | Good 2022 | – | Compare |
| Upper Shirley High School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 1,062 | Good 2019 | 52 | Compare |
| Sinclair Primary and Nursery School - Part of the Learning Federation Partnership of Schools | Council | 0.8 miles | 222 | Good 2024 | 77 | Compare |
| Shirley Infant School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 266 | No overall grade 2025 | 60 | Compare |
| Shirley Junior School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 361 | Good 2023 | 27 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Rosewood Free School a good school?
Rosewood Free School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in October 2023.
What is Rosewood Free School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Rosewood Free School outstanding at its last full inspection on 12 October 2023.
How many pupils does Rosewood Free School have?
77 pupils aged 2 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 77 places, so it is 100% full.
What is attendance like at Rosewood Free School?
Pupils were in school 90.1% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 36% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Rosewood Free School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, profound and multiple learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Rosewood Free School have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Aldermoor Road, Southampton, SO16 5NA
- Telephone
- 023 8057 1050
- Website
- www.rosewoodfreeschool.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Zoe Evans
- Type of school
- Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 2-19, with nursery, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Specialist Schools Trust Ltd (2 schools)
- Local authority
- Southampton
- Ward
- Coxford
- Constituency
- Southampton Test
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 3 September 2012 (new provision)
- URN
- 139265 · LAESTAB 8527050 · UKPRN 10038819
- Formerly
- Rosewood Free School
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
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.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2024/25.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- 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, academy accounts return 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.