Woodlands School
Woodlands School is a foundation special school in Plymouth for boys and girls aged 2 to 19. It has 97 pupils, 4 more than it has places for. About 28 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Woodview Learning Community, Picklecombe Drive, Off Tamerton Foliot Road, Plymouth, PL6 5ES01752 300101woodlands.plymouth.sch.ukMrs Andrea Hemmens headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 8 February 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
7 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 | Plymouth | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 3 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 8 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 0% | 65% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 0% | 8% | 8% |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | – | -4.3 | – | -1.6 | -2.6 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | – | -4.3 | – | -1.3 | -5.2 | – | – |
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 Plymouth 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 hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, profound and multiple learning difficulties, 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 Plymouth with hearing impairment provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Physical disability (74), Severe learning difficulty (8), Moderate learning difficulty (3), language and communications needs (3), Autistic spectrum disorder (2), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 97 | 87 | 85 | 88 | 88 | 87 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 28% | 26% | 31% | 28% | 25% | 24% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 4% | 5% | 2% | 6% | 6% | 3% |
| 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 85.1% 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 | 14.9% | 18.1% | 16.8% | 18.8% | 25.8% | 11.7% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 14.9% | 18.0% | 16.5% | 17.8% | 24.5% | 11.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 1.0% | 1.3% | 0.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 51.4% | 68.2% | 56.7% | 64.2% | 59.1% | 36.6% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 8 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2019/20 leavers | 2018/19 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 88% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Education | 88% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 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 council school accounts, year to March 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitleigh Community Primary School | Academy | 360 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Sir John Hunt Community Sports College | Academy | 430 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Woodfield Primary School | Academy | 800 m | 222 | Not inspected | 38 | Compare |
| Notre Dame RC School | Academy | 850 m | 764 | Report card 2026 | 10 | Compare |
| Beechwood Primary Academy | Academy | 910 m | 249 | No overall grade 2024 | 10 | Compare |
| St Peter's RC Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 75 | Good 2023 | 9 | Compare |
| Brook Green Centre for Learning | Council | 0.8 miles | 111 | No overall grade 2024 | – | Compare |
| Oakwood Primary Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 235 | No overall grade 2024 | 2 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Woodlands School a good school?
Woodlands School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in February 2023.
What is Woodlands School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Woodlands School good at its last full inspection on 8 February 2023.
How many pupils does Woodlands School have?
97 pupils aged 2 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 93 places, so it is 104% full.
What is attendance like at Woodlands School?
Pupils were in school 85.1% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 51% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Woodlands School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, profound and multiple learning difficulties, 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.
Does Woodlands 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
- Woodview Learning Community, Picklecombe Drive, Off Tamerton Foliot Road, Plymouth, PL6 5ES
- Telephone
- 01752 300101
- Website
- www.woodlands.plymouth.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Andrea Hemmens
- Type of school
- Foundation special school (Foundation special school, special schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 2-19, with nursery, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Plymouth
- Ward
- Budshead
- Constituency
- Plymouth Moor View
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 113644 · LAESTAB 8797062 · UKPRN 10015104
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, 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.