The Chiltern School
Parkside Drive, Dunstable, LU5 5PX
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lisa Leonard
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- 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
- Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 400
- Pupils on roll
- 369
- URN
- 109746
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582866972
About this school
The Chiltern School is a community special school in Dunstable. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 369 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 23 February 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 32 | 23 | 31 |
| 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 | -1.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.50 | - | - |
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 | 15 | 25 |
| 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 The Chiltern 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 | Central Bedfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 47.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 49.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 49.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 300 |
| 2023/24 | 330 |
| 2024/25 | 347 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 33.01%
- English as an additional language
- 17.9%
- Overall absence
- 10.08%
- Persistent absence
- 33.65%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Academy of Central Bedfordshire0.2 miles
Free Schools · Houghton Regis
-
Stannard School1.6 miles
Special schools · Dunstable
-
King's House Moorlands1.7 miles
Independent schools · Luton
-
Al Hikmah Boys School1.7 miles
Independent schools
-
Woodlands Secondary School2.2 miles
Special schools · Luton
Other schools in Dunstable
- Stannard School Special schools
- Weatherfield Academy Academies
- Westfield Nursery School Nursery
- Willow Nursery School Nursery
- Ardley Hill Academy Primary
- Ashton St Peter's VA C of E School Primary
- Beecroft Academy Primary
- Dunstable Icknield Lower School Primary
- Eaton Bray Academy Primary
- Edlesborough Primary Academy Primary
- Hadrian Academy Primary
- Harlington Lower School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Chiltern School teach?
- The Chiltern School teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Dunstable.
- Who is the headteacher of The Chiltern School?
- The headteacher of The Chiltern School is Mrs Lisa Leonard, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Chiltern School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Chiltern 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 The Chiltern School?
- The Chiltern School has 369 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is The Chiltern School full?
- The Chiltern School has capacity for 400 pupils and 369 on roll (92%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Chiltern School a faith school?
- No. The Chiltern School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does The Chiltern School have?
- The schools register lists The Chiltern School's special educational needs provision as: 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 The Chiltern 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 The Chiltern School's absence rate?
- The Chiltern School's overall absence rate is 10.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Chiltern School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Chiltern 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.