Downland School
Downlands Road, Devizes, SN10 5EF
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 10 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Georgina Keily-Theobald
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- Melksham and Devizes
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 90
- Pupils on roll
- 102
- URN
- 126550
- Local authority
- Wiltshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01380724193
About this school
Downland School is a community special school in Devizes. It teaches children aged 10 to 16 and has 102 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Downland School, 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
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 16 October 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 18 | 22 | 17 |
| Attainment 8 score | 8.5 | 5.3 | 6.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.93 -2.70 to -1.16 | -1.56 -2.23 to -0.88 | - |
| 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 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
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 Downland 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 | Wiltshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.5 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 5.3 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 6.9 | 36.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 22.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 26.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 20.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 97 |
| 2023/24 | 94 |
| 2024/25 | 88 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 57.95%
- English as an additional language
- 0%
- Overall absence
- 20.31%
- Persistent absence
- 44.94%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Silverwood School2.7 miles
Special schools · Devizes
-
Dauntsey's School4.1 miles
Independent schools · Devizes
-
Melksham House School6.8 miles
Special schools · Melksham
-
St Marys Calne and St Margarets Prep6.9 miles
Independent schools · Calne
-
The Springfields Academy7.0 miles
Academies · Calne
Other schools in Devizes
- Silverwood School Special schools
- All Cannings Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bishops Cannings Church of England Primary School Primary
- Chirton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Dauntsey Academy Primary School Primary
- Five Lanes Church of England Primary School Primary
- Nursteed Community Primary School Primary
- Rowde CofE Academy Primary
- Southbroom Infants' School Primary
- Southbroom St James Academy Primary
- St Barnabas Church of England School, Market Lavington Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Devizes Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Downland School teach?
- Downland School teaches children aged 10 to 16. It is a special school in Devizes.
- Who is the headteacher of Downland School?
- The headteacher of Downland School is Mrs Georgina Keily-Theobald, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Downland School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Downland 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 Downland School?
- Downland School has 102 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 10 to 16.
- Is Downland School full?
- Downland School has capacity for 90 pupils and 102 on roll (113%), 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 Downland School a faith school?
- No. Downland School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Downland School have?
- The schools register lists Downland School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Downland School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 8.5 in 2022/23 and 6.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Downland School's absence rate?
- Downland School's overall absence rate is 20.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Downland School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Downland 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.