SF School Facts UK

Boys special school in Seaford, Tower Hamlets

Bowden House School

Firle Road, Seaford, East Sussex, BN25 2JB

Ofsted Good · 2023 Sixth form Boys
School website 01323893138
Ofsted Good November 2023
Pupils 39 98% full
Local deprivation 8/10 less deprived

Ofsted

Goodas at 7 November 2023

Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 7 November 2023.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 2 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

Current published outcome
Good
Last overall grade in this dataset
Good
Days since inspection
1,060 days
Framework era
Historic overall-grade framework (ended September 2024)

These four fields describe the latest published inspection on this record. The dataset does not keep a previous inspection row, so a school inspected under the current framework will usually have no overall grade to show as “prior”.

Exam results

Special schools serve pupils whose needs the standard measures were not designed to describe, so results are not shown or ranked here.

Evidence found
No phase-compatible comparable headline measure is published here.
Source coverage
DfE 2024/25 school performance files, checked by exact URN and establishment type.
What this means
The standard mainstream measure would not support a fair comparison for this establishment.
What this does not mean
The school achieved zero, has no outcomes, or should be read as performing below a mainstream school.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
39
Places
40
How full
Nearly full — 39 of 40 places taken
Girls / boys
1 / 38
Overall absence
24%

England 5.8%

Persistently absent
56%

England 14.7% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
82%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
5%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
100%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
0%

England 15%

School funding 2025-26 financial year

Not covered by this mainstream-school release.

Evidence found
Not covered by this mainstream-school release; this is not represented as £0.
Source coverage
DfE mainstream-school allocations for running costs for pupils aged 5-16, importer snapshot 23 August 2026.
What this means
The official mainstream allocation release does not provide a publishable row for this establishment.
What this does not mean
The school received no public funding or has no budget; other establishment types and funding streams use different publications.

Allocation is not expenditure. DfE says this release combines the schools block with several other revenue grants and excludes capital spending. Funding is shown for context and is never used in School Facts ordering, peer groups or quality claims. Source, licence and coverage.

Roads and getting there

Road casualties within 500m

Child pedestrian casualties
0

England average 1.6 — pedestrians under 16, over five years

All reported collisions
13

England average 24.2 over five years

Of those, serious or fatal
3
Busiest road nearby
C

1,524 vehicles a day (2019)

Public transport

Bus stops within 500m
7

England average 11.9

Nearest station
Seaford Rail Station

0.8 km away — railway station

Traffic volume is the context the collision count needs: a school beside a major road will record more collisions than one on a quiet street without being any less well run.

Every collision reported to the police within 500m of the school over the five years to 2024, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe — counts rise with traffic and with how built up an area is, and a rural school on a fast road may have fewer collisions but a worse one. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position.

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
90%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
90%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
0%
No sustained destination
0%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
10

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The area around the school

8/10 Deprivation decile

Among the less deprived half of England.

5/10 Child poverty decile

Among around the middle for England for children in low-income families.

Indices of Deprivation 2019, for the small area the school stands in. 1 means the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. The second measure counts only children living in low-income families, which is the one that describes the intake a school is likely to draw on.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£385,000

postcode sector BN25 2 · 301 sales

Typical range
£273,750 to £484,000

middle half of sales

Detached
£455,000
Semi-detached
£378,750
Terraced
£361,500
Flat
£177,475

Homes around this school are dearer than most of England.

Every residential sale registered in this postcode sector since January 2024, from HM Land Registry. A sector covers roughly 2,500 addresses. England's median over the same period was £293,000.

Who lives there

Adults with a degree
29%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
17%

England 18.3%

In professional or managerial work
15%

England 13.4%

Households deprived in 2+ ways
14%

England 17.8%

Residents in very good health
42%

England 48.4%

Housing

Owned by the occupier
83%

England 62.7%

Social housing
5%

England 17%

Privately rented
10%

England 19.2%

Detached homes
62%

England 38.2%

Four or more bedrooms
25%

England 22.5%

No car
11%

England 21.9%

Census 2021, for Lewes 011B and the wider neighbourhood around it. These figures describe the area, not the pupils — children may travel in from much further away, and for selective, faith and independent schools they usually do.

School details

Type
Community special school
Phase
Special
Ages
Ages 5–18
Gender
Boys
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Boarding school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Neil Wells
Register status
Open
Local authority
Tower Hamlets
Ward
Seaford North
Constituency
Lewes
URN
100986

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Official DfE record
Open the register entry

The source record for this establishment and URN.

The URN identifies this registered establishment. If a school converts or is replaced, DfE may issue a new URN; this page does not stitch different establishments together by a similar name.

Nearest special schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Progress 8DistanceCompare
Northease Manor SchoolOther independent special school No overall grade — — 6 mi
Compass Community School Pinetree ParkOther independent special school No overall grade — — 7.2 mi
Anderida Learning CentreOther independent special school No overall grade — — 8.2 mi
Downs View Special SchoolCommunity special school No overall grade — — 8.8 mi

Evidence ledger

Reference dates and join methods are kept separate because the figures do not all describe the same year or geography.

EvidencePublisherReference dateHow it reaches this page
School identityGet Information About Schools23 August 2026Exact URN 100986; unified importer snapshot
Inspection evidenceOfsted management information31 July 2026Exact URN; inspection 7 November 2023
Pupil intakeDfE school census2024/25Exact URN; suppressed values remain missing
Funding allocationDfE school funding statistics2025-26 financial yearNo row for this URN in the mainstream-school release; not represented as zero
Roads and transportDfT road casualties, traffic and NaPTANFive-year road window; access-node snapshotCoordinate join within the stated radius
NeighbourhoodONS Census2021LSOA/MSOA containing the school, not pupil homes
DeprivationEnglish Indices of Deprivation2019LSOA containing the school
Home pricesHM Land Registry Price Paid DataSales since January 2024School postcode sector, not a catchment

These sources are published for reuse under the Open Government Licence v3.0, including the Crown database-right notice that accompanies Price Paid Data. Definitions and source notes. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.

Questions this school record can answer

Which exact school is this?

Match the DfE URN, school name and address; names and structures can change while the URN remains the stable identifier.

What does the latest inspection evidence say?

Use the inspection date and framework shown. Do not compare a legacy overall grade directly with the newer report-card judgements.

How should I compare nearby schools?

Compare the same phase, cohort and academic year, then keep intake context and confidence intervals beside performance measures.

What must a parent verify?

Check current admissions rules, travel practicality, support for the child’s needs and the school’s latest official information before deciding.