Dee Banks School
Special / other · Chester · CH3 5UX
Data updated
Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)
The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.
Ofsted placed this school in a statutory category of concern, special measures, at the inspection of 23 June 2026. It stands until a later inspection lifts it.
Inspected 23 June 2026 · report published 29 September 2026
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
141 pupils (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Community special school
- Age range
- 2–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 47.1% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 7.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 0% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 100% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- Yes
- URN
- 111494
In figures
At its report-card inspection on 23 June 2026, under the system Ofsted introduced in November 2025, the Achievement area was judged Urgent improvement. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 10% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)
2 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025
No figure is published for reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths: the DfE withholds figures for cohorts this small. Key stage 2 tests measure the age-11 curriculum; most pupils at special schools are assessed under other frameworks, so 97% of special schools publish 0% here.
GCSE results (2024/2025)
6 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025
no pupils entered
no pupils entered
no pupils entered
no pupils entered
Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means National averages are not shown here. The England figures are dominated by mainstream schools, and pupils at a special school are working towards outcomes those measures were not designed to capture, so the comparison would mislead more than it tells you.
Special educational needs
Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.
- Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Severe Learning Difficulty
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 81% (Cheshire West and Chester 89%, England 66%) · Any other ethnic group 5% (Cheshire West and Chester 1%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 3% (Cheshire West and Chester 0%, England 2%) · Black African 2% (Cheshire West and Chester 1%, England 5%) · Any other Mixed background 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 1%, England 3%) · Any other White background 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 2%, England 4%) · Any other Asian background 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 1%, England 2%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 0%, England 2%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 0%, England 0%) · Asian Pakistani 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 0%, England 4%) · Any other Black background 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 0%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 1%, England 1%) · White Gypsy/Roma 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 0%, England 0%) · White Traveller of Irish heritage 1% (Cheshire West and Chester 0%, England 0%)
Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures
Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)
Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)
0.00 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, special schools: 12.32 suspensions and 0.08 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Cheshire West and Chester: 5.22 suspensions and 0.34 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
91% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 4% moved to another state school · 5% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, special schools and PRUs: 0.68% vacant, 1.02% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
78.9% of teachers took sickness absence, 13.8 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £50,837; 7.4% on the leadership pay range · England, special schools and PRUs: £53,604, 18.3%
Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
Spending per pupil (2025-26)
Where the money went (2025-26)
Share of spending, with the median for special schools in brackets: Staff 82% (81%) · premises 7% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 5% (4%) · supplies and services 5% (9%) · educational supplies 2% (3%) · bought-in professional services 2% (4%) · catering 3% (2%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve -£191,620; in-year balance -£254,972
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared
Where pupils go after GCSEs
Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.
Inspection history since 2015
- 23 June 2026: Urgent improvement
- 15 March 2022: School remains Good
- 15 November 2016: Good
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 46.7% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 15.3% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 42.8% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 13.2% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 48.2% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 78.9% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 11.3% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 9.8% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 32.7% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 12% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 31.1% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 18% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01018321 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £299,000372 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £235,000–£400,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Roads around the school
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 1an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 1an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 1an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 0an urban school averages 6.1
A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted