Birchwood
Special / other · Folkestone · CT19 4FP
Data updated
SchoolFacts estimate: Ofsted awarded no overall grade at this inspection
We show the lowest of the four areas Ofsted did judge, listed below. Why some schools have no overall grade →
Inspected 1 July 2025
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
- School type
- Pupil referral unit
- Age range
- 14–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 0% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 0% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 0% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 0% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Website
- www.birchwoodpru.kent.sch.uk
- URN
- 135462
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
100% of teachers stayed at the school the following year
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)
71.4% of teachers took sickness absence, 5.1 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 £57,603; 28.6% 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 pupil referral unit schools in brackets: Staff 66% (78%) · premises 3% (4%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 4% (4%) · supplies and services 14% (11%) · educational supplies 4% (3%) · bought-in professional services 9% (5%) · catering 3% (1%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve £130,316; in-year balance -£36,233
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
Inspection history since 2015
- 8 May 2024: School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next
- 5 February 2019: Good
- 23 June 2017: Taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement
- 20 September 2016: Requires improvement
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 4/10more deprived than most of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 4/10more deprived than most of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 23.9% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 18% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 27.5% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 16.3% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 44.9% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 63.5% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 3.7% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 32.9% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 8.3% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 23.3% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 11% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 19.5% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01024512 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £300,000394 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £254,000–£368,000the 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
- 3an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 5an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 27an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 9an 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