Special school in Chichester, West Sussex
Fordwater School, Chichester
Summersdale Road, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6PP
Ofsted
Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 4 July 2023.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
Exam results
Special schools serve pupils whose needs the standard measures were not designed to describe, so results are not shown or ranked here.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 219
- Places
- 154
- How full
- Full — 219 pupils against 154 places
- Girls / boys
- 71 / 148
- Overall absence
- 12%
- Persistently absent
- 39%
England 5.8%
England 14.7% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 37%
- English as an additional language
- 12%
- With an EHC plan
- 100%
- On SEN support
- 0%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Chichester 008H, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 46%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 8%
- Households owning their home
- 55%
- Households in social housing
- 13%
- Households with no car
- 17%
- Adults economically inactive
- 42%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Community special school
- Phase
- Special
- Ages
- Ages 2–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- Yes
- Boarding
- Day school
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Sophie Clarke
- Local authority
- West Sussex
- Ward
- Chichester North
- Constituency
- Chichester
- URN
- 126163
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest special schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Anthony's SchoolCommunity special school | Outstanding 2023 | — | 0.5 mi |
| The Amicus SchoolOther independent special school | No grade | — | 5.3 mi |
| Glenwood SchoolCommunity special school | Good 2023 | — | 7.3 mi |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.