The Valley School
Broadhall Way, Stevenage, SG2 9BN
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr David Pearce
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Stevenage
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 165
- Pupils on roll
- 193
- URN
- 117669
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01438747274
About this school
The Valley School is a community special school in Stevenage. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 193 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
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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 33 | 29 | 35 |
| Attainment 8 score | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.72 -2.21 to -1.22 | -1.64 -2.22 to -1.06 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.0 | 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 The Valley 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 | Hertfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.3 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 0.4 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 0.2 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 172 |
| 2023/24 | 180 |
| 2024/25 | 190 |
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)
- 45.79%
- English as an additional language
- 5.8%
- Overall absence
- 9.26%
- Persistent absence
- 20.62%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Greenside School0.5 miles
Special schools · Stevenage
-
Lonsdale School1.1 miles
Special schools · Stevenage
-
Stevenage Education Support Centre1.4 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Stevenage
-
Larwood School1.4 miles
Academies · Stevenage
-
East Hall School2.9 miles
Special schools · Hitchin
Other schools in Stevenage
- Greenside School Special schools
- Larwood School Academies
- Lonsdale School Special schools
- Stevenage Education Support Centre Local authority maintained schools
- Peartree Way Nursery School Nursery
- Almond Hill Junior School Primary
- Ardeley St Lawrence Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Ashtree Primary Academy Primary
- Aston St Mary's Church of England Aided Primary School Primary
- Bedwell Primary School Primary
- Benington Church of England Primary School Primary
- Broom Barns Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Valley School teach?
- The Valley School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a special school in Stevenage.
- Who is the headteacher of The Valley School?
- The headteacher of The Valley School is Mr David Pearce, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Valley School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Valley 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 Valley School?
- The Valley School has 193 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Valley School full?
- The Valley School has capacity for 165 pupils and 193 on roll (117%), 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 The Valley School a faith school?
- No. The Valley School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does The Valley School have?
- The schools register lists The Valley School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Valley School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 0.3 in 2022/23 and 0.2 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 Valley School's absence rate?
- The Valley School's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Valley School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Valley 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 30 June 2026.