Community special school

Lonsdale School

Mixed · ages 3–18 · with sixth formHertfordshire, East of England · Stevenage SG2 8UTSchool website
Pupils on roll
128of 132 places
Free school meals
34.9%
Year 11 cohort 2025
13
Ofsted
Standards maintained, 29 January 2025Read the Ofsted report
What the data says

Of the 12 pupils who finished Year 11 at Lonsdale School in 2023, 0% stayed on in Lonsdale School’s own sixth form (Hertfordshire average 58%), none went to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.

Every pupil in the 2023 cohort went on to a sustained destination, against 92% across England.

Almost every leaver found a sustained destination: only 0% were not in education, work or training six months on, against 6% nationally.

Almost nobody goes straight into an apprenticeship or a job: none took an apprenticeship and none went into work, against 3% and 3% across England.

Where pupils went after Year 11

Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Hertfordshire and England.

Lonsdale School
Hertfordshire
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureLonsdale SchoolHertfordshireEngland
Pupils in the cohort1214,400607,348
Any sustained destination100%95%92%
Stayed in education100%92%86%
— school sixth form0%58%34%
— sixth form college0%2%13%
— further education college0%31%37%
— other education100%1%2%
Apprenticeship0%2%3%
Employment0%2%3%
No sustained destination0%3%6%
Destination unknown0%2%3%

Where students went after sixth form

Destinations of students who finished 16–18 study in 2023, measured the following year.

No published destinations for sixth-form leavers yet.

GCSE results 2025

MeasureLonsdale SchoolHertfordshireEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)0.350.646.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths0%53%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths0%72%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects0%47%41%
EBacc average point score0.004.564.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort46%18%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils0.734.234.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils0.054.150.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language0%16%19%

Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.

Subjects taken at GCSE

Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
Art and Design18%7%24%

Other secondary schools in Hertfordshire

Ashlyns School

Foundation school · sixth form · 1,561 pupils

94% stayed in education · Attainment 8 57.9

Barclay Academy

Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,044 pupils

91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 49.5

Barnwell School

Foundation school · sixth form · 1,270 pupils

88% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.5

Beaumont School

Academy converter · sixth form · 1,722 pupils

98% stayed in education · Attainment 8 62.6

Birchwood High School

Academy converter · sixth form · 1,417 pupils

85% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.1

Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.