Briarwood School
Briar Way, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 4EA
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Nicolle Deighton
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Bristol North East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 168
- Pupils on roll
- 167
- URN
- 109410
- Local authority
- Bristol, City of
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01173532651
About this school
Briarwood School is a community special school in Bristol. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 167 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 16 | 15 | 16 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
| Reading progress | -1.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.60 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 12 | 10 | 11 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | - |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | - |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Briarwood School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Bristol, City of average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 51.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 52.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 55.2% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 19.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 16.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 164 |
| 2023/24 | 165 |
| 2024/25 | 167 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 64.18%
- English as an additional language
- 44.9%
- Overall absence
- 13.57%
- Persistent absence
- 42.42%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Elmtree Grove School Ltd0.6 miles
Special schools · Bristol
-
St Matthias Academy0.6 miles
Academies · Bristol
-
Pathways Learning Centre0.6 miles
Academies · Bristol
-
Soundwell Academy0.8 miles
Free Schools · Kingswood
-
New Horizons Learning Centre1.3 miles
Special schools · Bristol
Other schools in Bristol
- Avonside School Special schools
- Belgrave School Special schools
- Bristol Hospital Education Service Local authority maintained schools
- Castlefell School Special schools
- Claremont School Special schools
- Culverhill School Academies
- E-Act Venturers' Academy Free Schools
- Elmfield School for Deaf Children Special schools
- Elmtree Grove School Ltd Special schools
- Kingsweston School Special schools
- Knowle DGE Academy Academies
- Lansdown Park Academy Academies
Common questions
- What year groups does Briarwood School teach?
- Briarwood School teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Bristol.
- Who is the headteacher of Briarwood School?
- The headteacher of Briarwood School is Mrs Nicolle Deighton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Briarwood School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Briarwood School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Briarwood School?
- Briarwood School has 167 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is Briarwood School full?
- Briarwood School has capacity for 168 pupils and 167 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Briarwood School a faith school?
- No. Briarwood School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Briarwood School have?
- The schools register lists Briarwood School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Briarwood School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Briarwood School's absence rate?
- Briarwood School's overall absence rate is 13.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Briarwood School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Briarwood School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.