George Hastwell School Special Academy
Moor Tarn Lane, Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 3LW
- Phase
- Academies
- School type
- Academy special sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE EDEN ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Samantha Kidd
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- The Eden Academy Trust (EAT)
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Barrow and Furness
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 90
- Pupils on roll
- 99
- URN
- 141993
- Local authority
- Westmorland and Furness
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01229475253
About this school
George Hastwell School Special Academy is a special academy in Barrow-in-Furness. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 99 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected George Hastwell School Special Academy, 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 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
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- 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 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | - | - | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | - | - | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | - | - | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | - | - | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | - | - | 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 | 8 | 7 | 4 |
| 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 George Hastwell School Special Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 15.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 87 |
| 2023/24 | 90 |
| 2024/25 | 94 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 77.03%
- English as an additional language
- 1.1%
- Overall absence
- 13.76%
- Persistent absence
- 36.49%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Moorfield Learning Centre2.1 miles
Independent schools
-
South Cumbria Pupil Referral Service2.2 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Barrow-in-Furness
-
Sandside Lodge School9.5 miles
Special schools · Ulverston
-
Walney School0.1 miles
Secondary · Barrow-in-Furness
-
St Columba's School0.3 miles
Primary · Barrow-in-Furness
Other schools in Barrow-in-Furness
- South Cumbria Pupil Referral Service Local authority maintained schools
- Hindpool Nursery School Nursery
- Barrow Island Community Primary School Primary
- Brisbane Park Infant School Primary
- Cambridge Primary School Primary
- Greengate Junior School Primary
- Holy Family Catholic Primary School Primary
- Newbarns Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Newton Village Academy Primary
- Ormsgill Nursery and Primary School Primary
- Parkside Academy Primary
- Ramsden Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does George Hastwell School Special Academy teach?
- George Hastwell School Special Academy teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Barrow-in-Furness.
- Who is the headteacher of George Hastwell School Special Academy?
- The headteacher of George Hastwell School Special Academy is Samantha Kidd, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has George Hastwell School Special Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected George Hastwell School Special Academy, 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 George Hastwell School Special Academy?
- George Hastwell School Special Academy has 99 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is George Hastwell School Special Academy full?
- George Hastwell School Special Academy has capacity for 90 pupils and 99 on roll (110%), 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 George Hastwell School Special Academy a faith school?
- No. George Hastwell School Special Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is George Hastwell School Special Academy part of an academy trust?
- George Hastwell School Special Academy is part of THE EDEN ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does George Hastwell School Special Academy have?
- The schools register lists George Hastwell School Special Academy's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- What is George Hastwell School Special Academy's absence rate?
- George Hastwell School Special Academy's overall absence rate is 13.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are George Hastwell School Special Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, George Hastwell School Special Academy'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 2 July 2026.