Ancora House School
- Alternative provision
- Pupil referral unit
- Ages 11 to 18
URN 134766 · Cheshire West and Chester
Inspection
Ofsted management information, as at 30 September 2026.
Latest graded inspection
11 May 2023Overall effectiveness
Outstanding
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form provision
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding is effective
- Yes
Full inspection (section 5)
Under the earlier framework, inspections gave an overall effectiveness grade.
Earlier graded inspection
17 October 2012Overall effectiveness
Outstanding
Under the earlier framework, inspections gave an overall effectiveness grade.
Read the reports on Ofsted’s website. Source: Ofsted, State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information.
Suspensions and permanent exclusions
Against Cheshire West and Chester and England, alternative provision.
Suspensions per 100 pupils
2024/250.00
- Cheshire West and Chester
- 423.68
- England
- 248.42
248.42 lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 0.00 | 174.29 | 158.40 |
| 2018/19 | 0.00 | 209.76 | 191.09 |
| 2019/20 | 50.00 | 180.00 | 141.01 |
| 2020/21 | 0.00 | 211.43 | 139.24 |
| 2021/22 | 0.00 | 250.00 | 257.87 |
| 2022/23 | 0.00 | 313.33 | 284.98 |
| 2023/24 | 0.00 | 384.72 | 253.49 |
| 2024/25 | 0.00 | 423.68 | 248.42 |
Suspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. One pupil can be suspended more than once. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
2024/250.00
- Cheshire West and Chester
- 0.00
- England
- 0.30
0.30 lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.16 |
| 2018/19 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.22 |
| 2019/20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.11 |
| 2020/21 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.13 |
| 2021/22 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.22 |
| 2022/23 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.34 |
| 2023/24 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.25 |
| 2024/25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.30 |
Permanent exclusions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Pupils
Against Cheshire West and Chester and England, alternative provision.
Eligible for free school meals
2024/2511.8%
- Cheshire West and Chester
- 55.3%
- England
- 63.2%
51.4 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 25.0% | 55.0% | 57.8% |
| 2023/24 | 21.4% | 63.9% | 60.7% |
| 2024/25 | 11.8% | 55.3% | 63.2% |
Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals on census day in January. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
SEN support
2024/255.9%
- Cheshire West and Chester
- 68.4%
- England
- 57.1%
51.2 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 50.0% | 83.3% | 57.0% |
| 2023/24 | 14.3% | 70.8% | 58.1% |
| 2024/25 | 5.9% | 68.4% | 57.1% |
Pupils receiving special educational needs support without an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Education, health and care plan
2024/2594.1%
- Cheshire West and Chester
- 31.6%
- England
- 26.3%
67.8 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 50.0% | 13.3% | 25.5% |
| 2023/24 | 85.7% | 29.2% | 24.2% |
| 2024/25 | 94.1% | 31.6% | 26.3% |
Pupils with an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
First language other than English
2024/250.0%
- Cheshire West and Chester
- 0.0%
- England
- 7.6%
7.6 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8.0% |
| 2023/24 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.6% |
Pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Teachers
Against Cheshire West and Chester and England, alternative provision.
Pupils per qualified teacher
2025/263.5
- Cheshire West and Chester
- 6.8
- England
- 7.3
3.8 lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 4.3 | 6.2 | 6.7 |
| 2018/19 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 6.8 |
| 2019/20 | 3.6 | 6.3 | 7.0 |
| 2020/21 | 3.9 | 6.5 | 6.8 |
| 2021/22 | 3.2 | 6.6 | 6.9 |
| 2022/23 | 3.7 | 6.7 | 7.0 |
| 2023/24 | 2.6 | 6.9 | 7.1 |
| 2024/25 | 4.8 | 7.1 | 7.3 |
| 2025/26 | 3.5 | 6.8 | 7.3 |
Full-time equivalent pupils for each full-time equivalent qualified teacher. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2025/26.
Teacher sickness absence
2024/258.1 days
- Cheshire West and Chester
- 4.8 days
- England
- 5.0 days
3.1 days higher than England.
Compared with all state-funded schools: DfE publishes this measure for all schools, not by phase.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 0.6 days | 2.8 days | 4.0 days |
| 2018/19 | 2.1 days | 3.9 days | 4.0 days |
| 2019/20 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| 2020/21 | 5.1 days | 3.8 days | 3.9 days |
| 2021/22 | 4.5 days | 6.1 days | 6.3 days |
| 2022/23 | 3.4 days | 4.8 days | 5.2 days |
| 2023/24 | 8.4 days | 5.3 days | 5.3 days |
| 2024/25 | 8.1 days | 4.8 days | 5.0 days |
Days lost to sickness absence in the school year, averaged across all teachers. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2024/25.
Finance
DfE publishes this maintained school’s income, spending and balances in its Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool, which has no stable download, so this site links to it rather than copying the figures.
See this school in the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool
About the school
- Pupils on roll
- 19
- Capacity
- 30
- Type
- Pupil referral unit
- Phase
- Alternative provision
- Age range
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Opened
- 1 September 2004
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Constituency
- Chester North and Neston
- Deprivation of the area (IDACI)
- Decile 9 of 10 (1 is the most deprived tenth of neighbourhoods)
Address: Countess of Chester Health Park, Chester, Cheshire, CH2 1BQ
Website: ancorahouseschool.co.uk
Telephone: 01244397598
Sources and corrections
Every figure on this page names its source and period. This release was built on 20 October 2026.
- Department for Education: Get Information about Schools: establishment data (GIAS establishment extract 2026-10-20)
- Ofsted: State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information (Latest inspections as at 2026-09-30; All inspections, 2018/19; All inspections, 2019/20; All inspections, 2020/21; All inspections, 2021/22; All inspections, 2022/23; All inspections, 2023/24; All inspections, 2024/25; All inspections, 2025/26)
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Pupil absence in schools in England (absence-3term-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England (exc-school, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-geography, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-geography, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 2 attainment (ks2-school, 2022/23 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; ks2-geography, 2015/16 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 4 performance (ks4-school, 2023/24 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ks4-geography, 2018/19 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Schools, pupils and their characteristics (School census, January 2022 (performance tables, 2021 to 2022); School census, January 2023 (performance tables, 2022 to 2023); School census, January 2024 (performance tables, 2023 to 2024); School census, January 2025 (performance tables, 2024 to 2025))
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: School workforce in England (ptr-school, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ptr-geography, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; sickness-school, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; sickness-geography, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: English indices of deprivation 2025: Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (English indices of deprivation 2025, File 7 (2021 LSOAs))
Spotted something wrong? Report a correction with the school’s URN (134766). Fixes go out in the next weekly release.