The Abbey School
The Abbey School is a special academy in Farnham for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 171 pupils, 1 more than it has places for. About 42 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2024.
Menin Way, Farnham, GU9 8DY01252 725059abbey.surrey.sch.ukMr David Jackson headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 4 June 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 7 December 2022 | Ungraded | School remains Outstanding (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
23 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018† | Surrey | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 23 | 21 | 22 | 20 | 24 | 20 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 50.6 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -1.57 | -1.49 | -1.92 | -1.78 | -1.64 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 54% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 73% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.13 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.04 | 4.54 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 44% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 1.5 | 1.7 | – | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.3 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 0.5 | 2.4 | – | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 2.4 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.9 | – | – |
† These results are for The Abbey School, the school this one replaced in September 2018. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Subjects
Results came out for 2 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 9 | 0% | 0% | 11% | 53% | – |
| English Language | 8 | 0% | 13% | 13% | 54% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
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 Surrey council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (51), Moderate learning difficulty (38), Autistic spectrum disorder (34), emotional and mental health (19), Specific learning difficulty (13), Other difficulty or disability (9).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 171 | 157 | 145 | 133 | 120 | 111 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 42% | 42% | 39% | 34% | 38% | 35% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 8% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 1% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.1% 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 | 5.9% | 9.0% | 7.2% | 5.7% | 17.9% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.3% | 5.7% | 4.7% | 4.9% | 17.0% | 3.8% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.6% | 3.4% | 2.5% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.7% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 14.5% | 20.4% | 14.3% | 13.2% | 72.3% | 10.2% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 14.0 | 9.7 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 22 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 100% | 90% | 91% | 86% |
| Education | 100% | 85% | 91% | 86% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 5% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 0% | 5% | 5% | 9% |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Farnham School | Academy | 90 m | 845 | Outstanding 2024 | 100 | Compare |
| St Polycarp's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 370 m | 433 | No overall grade 2025 | 94 | Compare |
| The Ridgeway School | Academy | 0.6 miles | 113 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| St Andrew's Church of England Infant School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 90 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Highfield South Farnham School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 479 | Outstanding 2024 | 94 | Compare |
| Potters Gate CofE Primary School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 535 | Good 2021 | 77 | Compare |
| University for the Creative Arts | Higher education institutions | 1.0 miles | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Barfield Prep School | Independent (grammar) | 1.3 miles | 281 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Abbey School a good school?
The Abbey School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in June 2024.
What is The Abbey School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Abbey School outstanding at its last full inspection on 4 June 2024.
How good are The Abbey School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 0% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 0.9, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished well over a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does The Abbey School have?
171 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 170 places, so it is 101% full.
What is attendance like at The Abbey School?
Pupils were in school 94.1% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 14% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Menin Way, Farnham, GU9 8DY
- Telephone
- 01252 725059
- Website
- www.abbey.surrey.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr David Jackson
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Weydon Multi Academy Trust (18 schools)
- Local authority
- Surrey
- Ward
- Farnham Moor Park
- Constituency
- Farnham and Bordon
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2018 (academy converter)
- URN
- 146255 · LAESTAB 9367061 · UKPRN 10080938
- Formerly
- The Abbey 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.
- 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.