Castledon School
Bromfords Drive, Wickford, SS12 0PW
- Phase
- Academies
- School type
- Academy special converter
- Ages
- 5 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ZENITH MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Simon Holliday
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Zenith Multi Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Rayleigh and Wickford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 290
- Pupils on roll
- 239
- URN
- 141765
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01268761252
About this school
Castledon School is a special academy in Wickford. It teaches children aged 5 to 19 and has 239 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. 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- 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 | 12 | 15 | 12 |
| 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 | - | - | - |
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 21 | 25 | 29 |
| 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 Castledon 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 | 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 | 9.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 223 |
| 2023/24 | 236 |
| 2024/25 | 238 |
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)
- 47.57%
- English as an additional language
- 2.5%
- Overall absence
- 9.77%
- Persistent absence
- 25.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Children's Support Service1.4 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Wickford
-
Lift Pioneer2.4 miles
Academies · Basildon
-
Glenwood School2.5 miles
Special schools · Benfleet
-
Ramsden Hall Academy3.3 miles
Academies · Billericay
-
Omnia Foundation3.3 miles
Special schools
Other schools in Wickford
- Children's Support Service Local authority maintained schools
- Abacus Primary School Primary
- Grange Primary School Primary
- Hilltop Infant School Primary
- Hilltop Junior School Primary
- North Crescent Primary School Primary
- Oakfield Primary School Primary
- Runwell Community Primary School Primary
- St Luke's Park Primary School Primary
- The Wickford Church of England School Primary
- Wickford Primary School Primary
- Beauchamps High School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Castledon School teach?
- Castledon School teaches children aged 5 to 19. It is a special school in Wickford.
- Who is the headteacher of Castledon School?
- The headteacher of Castledon School is Mr Simon Holliday, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Castledon School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Castledon 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 Castledon School?
- Castledon School has 239 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 19.
- Is Castledon School full?
- Castledon School has capacity for 290 pupils and 239 on roll (82%), 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 Castledon School a faith school?
- No. Castledon School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Castledon School?
- Castledon School is part of ZENITH MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Castledon School have?
- The schools register lists Castledon School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Castledon School'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 Castledon School's absence rate?
- Castledon School's overall absence rate is 9.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Castledon School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Castledon 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 1 July 2026.