Harlow Fields School and College
Tendring Road, Harlow, CM18 6RN
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Kathleen Faherty
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Harlow
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 214
- Pupils on roll
- 213
- URN
- 131838
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01279423670
About this school
Harlow Fields School and College is a community special school in Harlow. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 213 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Harlow Fields School and College, 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Sixth form
- Requires improvement
- 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 | 8 | 19 | 8 |
| 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% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
| Reading progress | -6.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -5.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -6.80 | - | - |
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 | 11 | 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 Harlow Fields School and College has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Essex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 58.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 59.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 153 |
| 2023/24 | 156 |
| 2024/25 | 177 |
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)
- 31.03%
- English as an additional language
- 11.9%
- Overall absence
- 14.71%
- Persistent absence
- 45.33%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Beckmead Moundwood Academy0.7 miles
Free Schools · Harlow
-
The Greenwell Academy0.7 miles
Free Schools · Harlow
-
Saint Nicholas School2.5 miles
Independent schools · Essex
-
Open Box Education Centre4.2 miles
Independent schools · Essex
-
The Tower School4.4 miles
Special schools
Other schools in Harlow
- Beckmead Moundwood Academy Free Schools
- The Greenwell Academy Free Schools
- Abbotsweld Primary Academy Primary
- Church Langley Community Primary School Primary
- Churchgate Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Harlow Primary
- Cooks Spinney Primary Academy and Nursery Primary
- Freshwaters Primary Academy Primary
- Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Harlowbury Primary School Primary
- Henry Moore Primary School Primary
- Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Harlow Primary
- Jerounds Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Harlow Fields School and College teach?
- Harlow Fields School and College teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Harlow.
- Who is the headteacher of Harlow Fields School and College?
- The headteacher of Harlow Fields School and College is Ms Kathleen Faherty, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Harlow Fields School and College been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Harlow Fields School and College, 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 Harlow Fields School and College?
- Harlow Fields School and College has 213 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is Harlow Fields School and College full?
- Harlow Fields School and College has capacity for 214 pupils and 213 on roll (100%), 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 Harlow Fields School and College a faith school?
- No. Harlow Fields School and College has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Harlow Fields School and College have?
- The schools register lists Harlow Fields School and College's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; 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 Harlow Fields School and College'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 Harlow Fields School and College's absence rate?
- Harlow Fields School and College's overall absence rate is 14.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Harlow Fields School and College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Harlow Fields School and College'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.