Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary
Ringwould Road, Ringwould, Deal, CT14 8DW
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Other independent special school
- Ages
- 10 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Sarah Appleby & Kevin Dunk
- Constituency
- Dover and Deal
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 36
- Pupils on roll
- 31
- URN
- 119013
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01304381906
About this school
Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary is an independent special school in Deal. It teaches children aged 10 to 19 and has 31 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has not yet inspected Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary under its current framework. 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
Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary has not been inspected by Ofsted yet. It opened in its current form in April 1993, and new or converted schools usually wait a few years for their first inspection.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 5 | 11 | 7 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | 4.7 | 9.7 |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| 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 | - | 0.4 | 0.8 |
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 Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 4.7 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 9.7 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 31 |
| 2023/24 | 30 |
| 2024/25 | 29 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 0%
- Pupils with an EHC plan
- 31
- Pupils on SEN support
- 0
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ripplevale School1.1 miles
Special schools · Deal
-
Portal House School2.2 miles
Special schools · Dover
-
Brewood Secondary School2.6 miles
Special schools · Deal
-
Northbourne Park School4.1 miles
Independent schools · Deal
-
Dover College5.0 miles
Independent schools · Dover
Other schools in Deal
- Brewood Secondary School Special schools
- Ripplevale School Special schools
- Deal Parochial Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hornbeam Primary School Primary
- Kingsdown and Ringwould Church of England Primary School Primary
- Northbourne Church of England Primary School Primary
- Sandown School Primary
- Sholden Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School Primary
- The Downs Church of England Primary School Primary
- Warden House Primary School Primary
- Worth Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary teach?
- Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary teaches children aged 10 to 19. It is a special school in Deal.
- Who is the headteacher of Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary?
- The headteacher of Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary is Sarah Appleby & Kevin Dunk, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary been inspected?
- Ofsted has not inspected Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary under its current framework, so no current judgement is shown. That is common for newer schools and is not a mark against a school.
- How big is Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary?
- Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary has 31 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 10 to 19.
- Is Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary full?
- Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary has capacity for 36 pupils and 31 on roll (86%), 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 Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary a faith school?
- No. Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary has no designated religious character.
- How have Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 4.7 in 2023/24 and 9.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What are Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary'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 24 July 2026.