The Skills Hub
Falling Lane, Yiewsley, West Drayton, UB7 8AB
- Phase
- Free Schools
- School type
- Free schools alternative provision
- Ages
- 5 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ORCHARD HILL COLLEGE ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Craig Van-de-Velde
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Orchard Hill College
- Constituency
- Uxbridge and South Ruislip
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 120
- Pupils on roll
- 48
- URN
- 149033
- Local authority
- Hillingdon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01895447102
About this school
The Skills Hub is a special academy in West Drayton. It teaches children aged 5 to 19 and has 48 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Urgent improvement
- Curriculum and teaching
- Urgent improvement
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Urgent improvement
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Urgent improvement
- Leadership and governance
- Urgent improvement
- Safeguarding
- Not met
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
Trends over time
How The Skills Hub has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55 |
| 2023/24 | 103 |
| 2024/25 | 50 |
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)
- 67.5%
- English as an additional language
- 30%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The PRIDE Academy0.0 miles
Free Schools · West Drayton
-
Meadow High School0.5 miles
Special schools · Uxbridge
-
Moorcroft School0.6 miles
Academies · Uxbridge
-
Pield Heath House RC School0.7 miles
Special schools · Uxbridge
-
Hillingdon Manor School1.0 miles
Special schools · Middlesex
Other schools in West Drayton
- Landon School Harmondsworth Special schools
- The PRIDE Academy Free Schools
- Cherry Lane Primary School Primary
- Harmondsworth Primary School Primary
- Heathrow Primary School Primary
- Laurel Lane Primary School Primary
- Rabbsfarm Primary School Primary
- St Catherine Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Martin's Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Matthew's CofE Primary School Primary
- West Drayton Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Skills Hub teach?
- The Skills Hub teaches children aged 5 to 19. It is a special school in West Drayton.
- Who is the headteacher of The Skills Hub?
- The headteacher of The Skills Hub is Craig Van-de-Velde, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Skills Hub last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Skills Hub, 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 The Skills Hub?
- The Skills Hub has 48 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 19.
- Is The Skills Hub full?
- The Skills Hub has capacity for 120 pupils and 48 on roll (40%), 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 The Skills Hub a faith school?
- No. The Skills Hub has no designated religious character.
- Is The Skills Hub a selective school?
- No. The Skills Hub is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Skills Hub?
- The Skills Hub is part of ORCHARD HILL COLLEGE ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- Does The Skills Hub publish exam results?
- OfferDay shows exam results for a school only where the Department for Education has published them, and none are shown for The Skills Hub. That is usual for infant, nursery, special and independent schools, and for schools without recent published results.
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 10 July 2026.