Woodlands Secondary School
Northwell Drive, Luton, LU3 3SP
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sandra Clarke
- SEN provision
- VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Luton North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 265
- Pupils on roll
- 262
- URN
- 109744
- Local authority
- Luton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582572880
About this school
Woodlands Secondary School is a community special school in Luton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 262 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Woodlands Secondary School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. 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 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 42 | 60 | 38 |
| 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 Woodlands Secondary 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 | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 262 |
| 2023/24 | 262 |
| 2024/25 | 263 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
- 8 May 2024
-
Ungraded inspection report24 November 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 45.5%
- English as an additional language
- 53.2%
- Overall absence
- 11.93%
- Persistent absence
- 33.17%
Location
Nearby schools
-
King's House Moorlands1.4 miles
Independent schools · Luton
-
Al Hikmah Boys School1.4 miles
Independent schools
-
Jamiatul Uloom Al - Islamia1.6 miles
Independent schools · Luton
-
Active Support Education Centre1.9 miles
Special schools · Beds
-
Mehria Primary School2.1 miles
Independent schools
Other schools in Luton
- Avenue Centre for Education Local authority maintained schools
- Claystone School Special schools
- Lady Zia Wernher School Special schools
- Lime Academy Hartwell Free Schools
- Richmond Hill School Special schools
- Chapel Street Nursery School Nursery
- Grasmere Nursery School Nursery
- Hart Hill Nursery School Nursery
- Pastures Way Nursery School Nursery
- Rothesay Nursery School Nursery
- The Gill Blowers Nursery School Nursery
- Beech Hill Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Woodlands Secondary School teach?
- Woodlands Secondary School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a special school in Luton.
- Who is the headteacher of Woodlands Secondary School?
- The headteacher of Woodlands Secondary School is Mrs Sandra Clarke, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Woodlands Secondary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Woodlands Secondary 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 many pupils are at Woodlands Secondary School?
- Woodlands Secondary School has 262 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Woodlands Secondary School full?
- Woodlands Secondary School has capacity for 265 pupils and 262 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 Woodlands Secondary School a faith school?
- No. Woodlands Secondary School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Woodlands Secondary School have?
- The schools register lists Woodlands Secondary School's special educational needs provision as: VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; 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.
- What is Woodlands Secondary School's absence rate?
- Woodlands Secondary School's overall absence rate is 11.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Woodlands Secondary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Woodlands Secondary 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.