Heart of the Forest Community Special School
Special schoolHeart of the Forest Community Special School is a special school in Forest of Dean, for pupils aged 4 to 19. It had 160 pupils at the school census in January 2026.
Ofsted
Latest inspections as at 30 September 2026Graded inspection, February 2025: no overall grade
- Inspection
- Graded inspection, 25 February 2025
- Overall effectiveness
- No overall grade (from September 2024)
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
Outcomes as Ofsted published them. Report cards (from November 2025) give no overall grade, and grades under different frameworks can’t be compared.
Results
Department for EducationIn 2024/25, 0% of pupils at Heart of the Forest Community Special School met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 60% in Gloucestershire and 62% in England.
0% reached the higher standard (8% in England).
End of primary school (KS2)
2024/25| Measure | This school | Gloucestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 60% | 62% |
| Reached the higher standard | 0% | 9% | 8% |
| Average scaled score in reading | Does not apply to this school | 106 | 106 |
| Average scaled score in maths | Does not apply to this school | 105 | 105 |
End of secondary school (KS4, GCSEs)
2025/26, provisional| Measure | This school | Forest of Dean | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Attainment 8 score | Does not apply to this school | 41.8 | 46.2 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | Does not apply to this school | 36.4% | 46.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | Does not apply to this school | 56% | 64.8% |
| Pupils at the end of KS4 | 17 | – | – |
- Heart of the Forest Community Special School teaches pupils with needs that most schools' pupils do not have, often in very small year groups, so its results are not a fair comparison with mainstream schools. They are not shown on the map.
- Progress scores from KS1 to KS2 were not published for 2024/25, because the KS1 tests that give the starting point were cancelled in 2020 and 2021.
- The 2025/26 figures are provisional. The Department for Education publishes revised ones later in the school year.
- Progress 8 cannot be worked out for 2025/26, because the KS2 tests that give the starting point were cancelled in 2020 and 2021.
- Results reflect the pupils a school admits as well as its teaching, and a year's results can move a lot in a small school.
Where these figures come from
- Schools: the school lists of the Department for Education, the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government, with Ofsted’s latest inspections for England.
- Results: the Department for Education’s school performance tables (Open Government Licence).