The Meadows School
The Meadows School is a special academy in Leek for boys and girls aged 11 to 19. It has 129 pupils, 9 more than it has places for. About 43 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2019.
Springfield Road, Leek, ST13 6EU01538 225060themeadows.manorhall.academyDr Kathryn Taylor executive headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 24 September 2019, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A later, shorter visit on 19 March 2025 said: “Standards maintained”.
This inspection is more than 7 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 19 March 2025 | Ungraded | Standards maintained |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
18 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. That usually means the year group was too small to publish without identifying children.
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 Staffordshire 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 moderate 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 Staffordshire with moderate learning difficulties provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (35), language and communications needs (25), Severe learning difficulty (18), Moderate learning difficulty (16), Specific learning difficulty (11), emotional and mental health (9).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 129 | 129 | 130 | 127 | 126 | 124 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 39% | 40% | 36% | 32% | 30% | 30% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 6% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 5% |
| 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 91.4% 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 | 8.6% | 8.3% | 7.4% | 10.9% | 19.1% | 6.9% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 6.7% | 6.9% | 7.2% | 9.0% | 17.3% | 6.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.9% | 1.4% | 0.2% | 1.9% | 1.8% | 0.7% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 21.3% | 27.0% | 23.0% | 34.4% | 69.0% | 19.5% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 9 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 100%, compared with – for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 100% | 90% | 88% | 94% |
| Education | 100% | 90% | 88% | 94% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 0% | 10% | 0% | 6% |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leek High School | Academy | 0 m | 261 | Requires improvement 2024 | 9 | Compare |
| Springfield School | Academy | 230 m | 73 | Good 2022 | – | Compare |
| Leek First School | Academy | 300 m | 133 | Good 2023 | 58 | Compare |
| Beresford Memorial CofE First School | Academy | 540 m | 153 | Good 2023 | 19 | Compare |
| Churnet View Middle School | Academy | 950 m | 440 | Not inspected | 13 | Compare |
| All Saints CofE First School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 228 | Good 2023 | 69 | Compare |
| St Mary's Catholic Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 179 | Not inspected | 91 | Compare |
| Westwood First School | Academy | 1.3 miles | 251 | Good 2023 | 62 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Meadows School a good school?
The Meadows School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in September 2019.
What is The Meadows School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Meadows School good at its last full inspection on 24 September 2019. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.
How many pupils does The Meadows School have?
129 pupils aged 11 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 120 places, so it is 108% full.
What is attendance like at The Meadows School?
Pupils were in school 91.4% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 21% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does The Meadows School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for moderate learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does The Meadows 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
- Springfield Road, Leek, ST13 6EU
- Telephone
- 01538 225060
- Website
- themeadows.manorhall.academy
- Executive Headteacher
- Dr Kathryn Taylor
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Manor Hall Academy Trust (16 schools)
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Ward
- Leek East
- Constituency
- Staffordshire Moorlands
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 October 2016 (academy converter)
- URN
- 143346 · LAESTAB 8607028 · UKPRN 10057647
- Formerly
- The Meadows 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.