SF School Facts UK

Special school in Wigan

Newbridge Learning Community

Moss Lane, Platt Bridge, Wigan, Lancashire, WN2 3TL

Ofsted Good · 2024
School website 01942369770

Ofsted

Goodas at 27 March 2024

Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 27 March 2024.

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

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
83
Places
88
How full
94% full — 83 of 88 places taken
Girls / boys
11 / 72
Overall absence
29%

England 5.8%

Persistently absent
64%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
74%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
0%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
100%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
0%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
73%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
73%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
0%
No sustained destination
7%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
15

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 neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Wigan 024A, 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
17%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
30%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
38%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
33%

England 17%

Households with no car
35%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
42%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Community special school
Phase
Special
Ages
Ages 11–16
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Paul Appleton
Local authority
Wigan
Ward
Abram
Constituency
Makerfield
URN
135199

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest special schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Parks SchoolOther independent special school No grade 1.2 mi
CEWE SchoolOther independent special school No grade 1.6 mi
Oakfield High School and CollegeCommunity special school Outstanding 2024 1.9 mi
Willow Grove Primary SchoolCommunity special school Good 2023 2.1 mi
Expanse Learning Wigan SchoolOther independent special school No grade 2.3 mi
Hope SchoolCommunity special school No grade 2.4 mi
Landgate School, BrynCommunity special school No grade 2.4 mi
Martha H SchoolOther independent special school No grade 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, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • 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.