Watermill School
Watermill School is a special academy in Stoke-on-Trent for boys and girls aged 2 to 16. It has 254 pupils, 114 more than it has places for. About 52 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 2023.
Turnhurst Road, Chell, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 6JZ01782 883737Mrs Jennifer Lomas headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 15 November 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good 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
15 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† | Stoke-on-Trent | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 15 | 21 | 21 | 30 | 17 | 15 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | – | – | – | – | 0.1 | 0.4 | 41.5 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | – | – | – | -1.64 | -1.58 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% | 35% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% | 57% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | – | – | – | – | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.56 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% | 31% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | – | – | – | – | 0.1 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | – | – | – | – | 0.0 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | – | – | – | 0.1 | 0.4 | – | – |
† These results are for Watermill School, the school this one replaced in July 2019. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
24 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2019† | 2018† | 2017† | Stoke-on-Trent | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 24 | 22 | 34 | 22 | 17 | 26 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 62% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 7% | 8% |
| Reading scoreReading average scaled score | – | – | – | 94.0 | 101.0 | 96.0 | 104.5 | 105.6 |
| Maths scoreMaths average scaled score | – | – | – | 91.0 | 91.0 | 93.0 | 103.7 | 104.6 |
| Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score | – | – | – | – | 99.0 | 96.0 | 104.9 | 105.2 |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 0% | 0% | 0% | 5% | 6% | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | – | -7.1 | -2.7 | -4.9 | -10.8 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | – | -6.5 | -2.6 | -6.1 | -12.6 | – | – |
| Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | 0% | 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.
† These results are for Watermill School, the school this one replaced in July 2019. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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 the end of primary school, 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 Stoke-on-Trent 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 autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, physical disability, profound and multiple learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, severe learning difficulties, visual impairment.
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 Stoke-on-Trent with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Severe learning difficulty (118), language and communications needs (54), Specific learning difficulty (44), Moderate learning difficulty (24), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (6), Autistic spectrum disorder (5).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 254 | 240 | 238 | 234 | 235 | 228 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 52% | 48% | 45% | 50% | 49% | 51% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 17% | 19% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 1% | 1% | 4% | 3% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 99% | 98% | 96% | 97% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 88.6% 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 | 11.4% | 13.5% | 13.2% | 16.1% | 27.7% | 11.9% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 9.3% | 10.1% | 9.9% | 11.8% | 22.7% | 7.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.1% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 4.2% | 5.0% | 4.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 40.9% | 44.1% | 45.2% | 50.2% | 92.6% | 37.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 6.7 | 10.1 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.6 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for Watermill School, the school this one replaced in July 2019. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 21 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 | 95% | 90% | 100% | 92% |
| Education | 95% | 90% | 100% | 85% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 8% |
| Not in education, work or training | 5% | 3% | 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ormiston Horizon Academy | Academy | 190 m | 1,029 | Good 2023 | 8 | Compare |
| St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy | Academy | 530 m | 1,143 | Report card 2026 | 35 | Compare |
| Whitfield Valley Primary Academy | Academy | 900 m | 474 | Outstanding 2024 | 96 | Compare |
| Mill Hill Primary Academy | Academy | 0.6 miles | 473 | Outstanding 2023 | 71 | Compare |
| St Joseph's Catholic Academy, Goldenhill | Academy | 0.7 miles | 230 | Not inspected | 50 | Compare |
| Burnwood Primary Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 573 | Good 2019 | – | Compare |
| Star Academy, Sandyford | Academy | 0.9 miles | 128 | Good 2022 | 27 | Compare |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 343 | Good 2023 | 41 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Watermill School a good school?
Watermill School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in November 2023.
What is Watermill School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Watermill School good at its last full inspection on 15 November 2023.
How good are Watermill School's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 0% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% went further and reached the higher level.
How many pupils does Watermill School have?
254 pupils aged 2 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 140 places, so it is 181% full.
What is attendance like at Watermill School?
Pupils were in school 88.6% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 41% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Watermill School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, physical disability, profound and multiple learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, severe learning difficulties, visual impairment. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Turnhurst Road, Chell, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 6JZ
- Telephone
- 01782 883737
- Headteacher
- Mrs Jennifer Lomas
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 2-16, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Orchard Community Trust (7 schools)
- Local authority
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Ward
- Great Chell & Packmoor
- Constituency
- Stoke-on-Trent North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 July 2019 (academy converter)
- URN
- 146503 · LAESTAB 8617008 · UKPRN 10083601
- Formerly
- Watermill 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.