Victoria Education Centre
12 Lindsay Road, Branksome Park, Poole, BH13 6AS
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Non-maintained special school
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Olu Odunsi
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, PD - Physical Disability
- Constituency
- Poole
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 130
- Pupils on roll
- 133
- URN
- 113954
- Local authority
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01202763697
About this school
Victoria Education Centre is a special school in Poole. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 133 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 13 November 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| Attainment 8 score | 0.9 | 0.3 | - |
| Progress 8 score | -1.58 -2.62 to -0.53 | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.0 | 0.0 | - |
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 Victoria Education Centre has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.9 | 39.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 0.3 | 38.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | — | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 16% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 16.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 16.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 101 |
| 2023/24 | 110 |
| 2024/25 | 128 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 28.85%
- English as an additional language
- 17.2%
- Overall absence
- 16.89%
- Persistent absence
- 50%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Talbot Heath School0.9 miles
Independent schools · Bournemouth
-
Bournemouth Collegiate Preparatory School0.9 miles
Independent schools · Poole
-
The Quay School1.1 miles
Academies · Poole
-
Langside School1.2 miles
Special schools · Poole
-
Arts University Bournemouth1.5 miles
Universities · Poole
Other schools in Poole
- Langside School Special schools
- Longspee Academy Academies
- Montacute School Academies
- The Lion Works School Special schools
- The Quay School Academies
- The White House School Special schools
- Winchelsea School Special schools
- Ad Astra Infant School Primary
- Baden-Powell and St Peter's Church of England Junior School Primary
- Bayside Academy Primary
- Bishop Aldhelm's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Canford Heath Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Victoria Education Centre teach?
- Victoria Education Centre teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Poole.
- Who is the headteacher of Victoria Education Centre?
- The headteacher of Victoria Education Centre is Mr Olu Odunsi, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Victoria Education Centre last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Victoria Education Centre, 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 Victoria Education Centre?
- Victoria Education Centre has 133 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is Victoria Education Centre full?
- Victoria Education Centre has capacity for 130 pupils and 133 on roll (102%), so it is at or above 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 Victoria Education Centre a faith school?
- No. Victoria Education Centre has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Victoria Education Centre have?
- The schools register lists Victoria Education Centre's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; PD - Physical Disability. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Victoria Education Centre's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 0.9 in 2022/23 and 0.3 in 2023/24. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Victoria Education Centre's absence rate?
- Victoria Education Centre's overall absence rate is 16.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Victoria Education Centre's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Victoria Education Centre'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.