The Beacon Folkestone
Park Farm Road, Folkestone, CT19 5DN
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Foundation special school
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- Kent Special Educational Needs Trust (KSENT)
- Executive Headteacher
- Mr Ady Young
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Folkestone and Hythe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 354
- Pupils on roll
- 469
- URN
- 119044
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01303847555
About this school
The Beacon Folkestone is a foundation special school in Folkestone. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 469 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Beacon Folkestone, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 6 June 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Outstanding. 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 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 22 | 21 | 29 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 0% | 3% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 5% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 5% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | 97.0 | 100.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | 114.0 | 95.0 |
| Reading progress | -8.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -7.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -7.50 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
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 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.61 -2.12 to -1.09 | -1.55 -2.08 to -1.03 | - |
| 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 Beacon Folkestone 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% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 60.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 60.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.3 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 0.5 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 0.3 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 419 |
| 2023/24 | 421 |
| 2024/25 | 431 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 55.59%
- English as an additional language
- 7%
- Overall absence
- 8.32%
- Persistent absence
- 27.61%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Compass Community School Coastal Park0.4 miles
Special schools · Folkestone
-
Earlscliffe (Sussex Summer Schools Ltd)0.7 miles
Independent schools · Folkestone
-
Folkestone Beacon Plus0.8 miles
Other types · Folkestone
-
School of English Studies0.8 miles
Other types · Folkestone
-
Birchwood1.1 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Folkestone
Other schools in Folkestone
- Birchwood Local authority maintained schools
- Compass Community School Coastal Park Special schools
- Folkestone Beacon Plus Other types
- All Soul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Capel-le-Ferne Primary School Primary
- Castle Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Cheriton Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Cep Academy, Folkestone Primary
- Folkestone Primary Primary
- Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Folkestone, St Martin's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Folkestone, St Peter's Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Beacon Folkestone teach?
- The Beacon Folkestone teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Folkestone.
- Who is the executive headteacher of The Beacon Folkestone?
- The executive headteacher of The Beacon Folkestone is Mr Ady Young, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Beacon Folkestone been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Beacon Folkestone, 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 The Beacon Folkestone?
- The Beacon Folkestone has 469 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is The Beacon Folkestone full?
- The Beacon Folkestone has capacity for 354 pupils and 469 on roll (132%), 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 Beacon Folkestone a faith school?
- No. The Beacon Folkestone has no designated religious character.
- Is The Beacon Folkestone part of an academy trust?
- The Beacon Folkestone is part of Kent Special Educational Needs Trust (KSENT). Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Beacon Folkestone have?
- The schools register lists The Beacon Folkestone's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Beacon Folkestone's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 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 The Beacon Folkestone's absence rate?
- The Beacon Folkestone's overall absence rate is 8.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Beacon Folkestone's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Beacon Folkestone'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.