Fosse Way School

Fosse Way School is a special school for pupils with moderate or severe learning difficulties, all of whom have an education, health and care plan. This full inspection found the school performing strongly in several areas, with safeguarding standards met. Attendance and behaviour, inclusion, personal development and wellbeing, and post-16 provision are all judged strong standard. Leaders are highly effective in securing strong attendance, pupils behave well and feel safe, and the school provides extensive pastoral support. Fosse Way is highly inclusive, with a bespoke curriculum and strong preparation for adulthood, and the sixth form is a particular strength, with all students moving on to further training or employment.

Strengths

• Highly effective attendance strategy with absence rates consistently below national averages for pupils with SEND.
• Strong behaviour culture where pupils understand and apply the school's 'Ready, Respectful, Safe' approach.
• Highly ambitious and impactful inclusion strategy for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Precise adjustments to learning and effective use of pupil premium to overcome barriers.
• Extensive pastoral support and a bespoke personal development programme with strong preparation for adulthood.
• Comprehensive careers education and wide-ranging work experience, including community placements.
• Very high expectations and strong outcomes in the sixth form, with all students progressing to training or employment.
• Pupils learn to read well and develop secure mathematical knowledge and skills.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development, with strong oversight in the sixth form, behaviour and attendance.
• Positive relationships with parents, external agencies and commissioning local authorities.
• Pupils are happy, feel safe and have high attendance.
• Staff benefit from a comprehensive professional development programme that considers workload and wellbeing.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years provision needs attention; children do not consistently receive the teaching they need to secure their learning.
• Early years staff do not have all the necessary subject knowledge, and teaching is not suitably adapted to build on children's starting points.
• The early years curriculum does not provide enough opportunities for children to practise essential knowledge, skills and tasks.
• Interactions between staff and children in the early years are not effective in supporting communication, language, physical and personal development.
• Some early years teaching resources are not appropriate.
• Record systems for care practices needed strengthening during the inspection.
• For a minority of pupils, teaching sequences are not based on a precise understanding of prior knowledge, so pupils do not practise the most essential knowledge.
• Leaders need to ensure sequences of work and assessment consistently build on what pupils already know across all curriculum pathways.
• A minority of parents identify weaknesses in communication when they have concerns.

In 2024–25 pupils at Fosse Way School attended 88.9% of sessions (the national figure for special schools was 87.2%). 35.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 35.3%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 6.3% of pupils at Fosse Way School were suspended at least once (nationally 5.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Fosse Way School had 6.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for special schools was 6.6). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.5%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26 Fosse Way School had 232 pupils, 100.0% of them with an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 99.5%).

It says it provides for: moderate learning difficulty; severe learning difficulty; profound and multiple learning difficulty; social, emotional and mental health; speech, language and communication needs; hearing impairment; vision impairment; multi-sensory impairment; physical disability; autistic spectrum disorder; other difficulty or disability.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded special school schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Fosse Way School received £30,281 and spent £28,358 for each of its 224 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £381,000 (£1,699 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of The Partnership Trust, income was £9,672 and spending £9,897 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bath · Bath and North East Somerset local authority: places and applications

Fosse Way School is part of The Partnership Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Paulton Infant School Bristol
• St Mary's Church of England Primary School Radstock
• Cameley CEVC Primary School Bristol
• Farmborough Church Primary School Bath
• Marksbury CofE Primary School Bath
• Nunney First School Frome
• Roundhill Primary School Bath
• Pensford Primary School Bristol
• Moorlands Junior School Bath
• Moorlands Infant School Bath

What is Fosse Way School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Fosse Way School is Needs attention, from an inspection in March 2026.

When was Fosse Way School last inspected by Ofsted?

Fosse Way School was last inspected in March 2026.

How many pupils does Fosse Way School have?

Fosse Way School has 232 pupils on roll.

What age range does Fosse Way School cover?

Fosse Way School for pupils aged 3 to 19.

What are Fosse Way School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 9.7, and 9% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

What are Fosse Way School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 0% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Fosse Way School?

Fosse Way School is at Longfellow Road, Radstock, Bath, Somerset, BA3 3AL.