Breakspeare School
Gallows Hill Lane, Abbots Langley, WD5 0BU
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 2 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Merja Paakkonen
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- South West Hertfordshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 153
- Pupils on roll
- 157
- URN
- 117681
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01923263645
About this school
Breakspeare School is a community special school in Abbots Langley. It teaches children aged 2 to 19 and has 157 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Breakspeare 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
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 | 5 | 7 | 14 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | - | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | - | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | - | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | - | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | - | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 2 | 7 | 17 |
| 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 Breakspeare 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 | — | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 61% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 17.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 94 |
| 2023/24 | 106 |
| 2024/25 | 139 |
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)
- 42.86%
- English as an additional language
- 23.7%
- Overall absence
- 14.64%
- Persistent absence
- 46.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Garston Manor School1.4 miles
Special schools · Watford
-
Stanborough Secondary School1.6 miles
Independent schools · Watford
-
Stanborough Primary School1.6 miles
Independent schools · Watford
-
Abbot's Hill School2.0 miles
Independent schools · Hemel Hempstead
-
Woodfield School3.0 miles
Special schools · Hemel Hempstead
Other schools in Abbots Langley
- Abbots Langley School Primary
- Bedmond Academy Primary
- Divine Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School Primary
- Tanners Wood Junior Mixed and Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Breakspeare School teach?
- Breakspeare School teaches children aged 2 to 19. It is a special school in Abbots Langley.
- Who is the headteacher of Breakspeare School?
- The headteacher of Breakspeare School is Ms Merja Paakkonen, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Breakspeare School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Breakspeare 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 Breakspeare School?
- Breakspeare School has 157 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 19.
- Is Breakspeare School full?
- Breakspeare School has capacity for 153 pupils and 157 on roll (103%), 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 Breakspeare School a faith school?
- No. Breakspeare School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Breakspeare School have?
- The schools register lists Breakspeare School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Breakspeare School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2023/24 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 Breakspeare School's absence rate?
- Breakspeare School's overall absence rate is 14.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Breakspeare School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Breakspeare 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.