Chester International School

Chester International School is a small, highly inclusive school within The Learning Trust that has improved at pace following new leadership and governance changes. Inspectors found it meets the expected standard across all inspected areas, with safeguarding standards met. Many pupils arrive with significant barriers to learning and wellbeing, disrupted or limited prior education, and high levels of special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders have raised expectations and created a caring, orderly environment where pupils feel safe, behave well and are supported to engage with their education. The school's strengths lie in its inclusive culture, pastoral support, warm relationships and skilled support for pupils with SEND. Attendance is improving significantly for many pupils, teaching has been strengthened through curriculum changes and the 'winning formula', and sixth-form students achieve well and are well prepared for their next steps. Published key stage 4 outcomes remain low and do not yet reflect the progress current pupils make from their starting points. Concerns remain around attendance: too many pupils are still persistently absent, and leaders need to sustain improvements. Assessment practice is not yet consistently strong across subjects, and leaders should sharpen how they evaluate the impact of the personal development programme. Overall, the direction is positive and the school is well placed to continue improving.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture that welcomes pupils with complex barriers and disrupted prior education
• Warm, trusting relationships between staff and pupils create a strong sense of belonging
• Pupils feel safe and behave well; bullying is extremely rare and dealt with swiftly
• Leaders have raised expectations and halted the decline in pupils' achievement
• Curriculum and teaching have improved, including through the 'winning formula'
• Strong support for reading, writing and numeracy gaps when pupils join
• Staff are highly skilled at adapting learning for pupils with SEND
• Pupils with SEND make particularly impressive progress from their starting points
• Sixth-form students achieve consistently well and are well prepared for next steps
• Personal development and pastoral support have a positive impact on pupils' wellbeing
• Staff wellbeing is considered carefully during a period of rapid change
• Disadvantaged pupils typically achieve as well as their peers across the curriculum
• Attendance improves significantly for many pupils, including previously severely absent pupils

Areas for Improvement

• Too many pupils still do not attend school as frequently as they should
• Persistent absence remains well above the national average
• Published key stage 4 outcomes remain below national averages and do not reflect current progress
• Some unevenness across subjects in how well teachers identify gaps in learning
• Some pupils occasionally do not secure the knowledge they need before moving on
• Leaders need to sharpen systems for evaluating the impact of the personal development programme
• Destinations after 16 remain below national averages

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Chester International School attended 84.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 51.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 8.5% of pupils at Chester International School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Chester International School had 10.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 38.9% of pupils at Chester International School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 6.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Chester International School received £9,522 and spent £8,572 for each of its 259 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £135,000 (£522 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of The Learning Trust, income was £7,535 and spending £7,399 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 Chester · Cheshire West and Chester local authority: places and applications

Chester International School is part of The Learning Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Queen's Park High School Chester
• Belgrave Primary School Chester
• Christleton High School Chester

What is Chester International School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Chester International School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Chester International School last inspected by Ofsted?

Chester International School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Chester International School have?

Chester International School has 229 pupils on roll.

What age range does Chester International School cover?

Chester International School for pupils aged 14 to 19.

Where is Chester International School?

Chester International School is at Queens Park Campus, Queens Park Road, Handbridge, Chester, Cheshire, CH4 7AE.