Meadows School
London Road, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 0RJ
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Non-maintained special school
- Ages
- 7 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Principal
- Mr Ed Reilly
- SEN provision
- SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- Tunbridge Wells
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 100
- Pupils on roll
- 65
- URN
- 119029
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01892529144
About this school
Meadows School is a special school in Tunbridge Wells. It teaches children aged 7 to 19 and has 65 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
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 11 | 9 | 8 |
| Attainment 8 score | 0.6 | 4.0 | 0.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -2.78 -3.76 to -1.80 | -2.57 -3.70 to -1.44 | - |
| 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 | 0.1 | 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 Meadows 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 | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.6 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 4 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 0.5 | 37.7 | 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 | 21% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 61 |
| 2023/24 | 65 |
| 2024/25 | 62 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 47.83%
- English as an additional language
- 0%
- Overall absence
- 21.03%
- Persistent absence
- 64%
Location
Nearby schools
-
OA Tunbridge Wells1.1 miles
Academies · Royal Tunbridge Wells
-
Nexus Foundation Special School1.4 miles
Special schools · Tonbridge
-
Broomhill Bank School1.6 miles
Special schools · Tunbridge Wells
-
Rose Hill School1.7 miles
Independent schools · Tunbridge Wells
-
Somerhill2.4 miles
Independent schools
Other schools in Tunbridge Wells
- Broomhill Bank School Special schools
- Oakley School Special schools
- Bidborough Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Bishops Down Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Broadwater Down Primary School Primary
- Claremont Primary School Primary
- Fordcombe Church of England Primary School Primary
- Frant Church of England Primary School Primary
- Groombridge St Thomas' Church of England Primary School Primary
- Lamberhurst St Mary's CofE (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School Primary
- Langton Green Primary School Primary
- Pembury School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Meadows School teach?
- Meadows School teaches children aged 7 to 19. It is a special school in Tunbridge Wells.
- Who is the principal of Meadows School?
- The principal of Meadows School is Mr Ed Reilly, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Meadows School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Meadows 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 Meadows School?
- Meadows School has 65 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 19.
- Is Meadows School full?
- Meadows School has capacity for 100 pupils and 65 on roll (65%), 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 Meadows School a faith school?
- No. Meadows School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Meadows School have?
- The schools register lists Meadows School's special educational needs provision as: SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Meadows School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 0.6 in 2022/23 and 0.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Meadows School's absence rate?
- Meadows School's overall absence rate is 21% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Meadows School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Meadows 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 22 July 2026.