Furze Down School is a special school for pupils aged 4–19 with a wide range of special educational needs. At the time of the inspection, there was only one four-year-old in the school. All pupils have a statement of special educational needs. Pupils mostly have moderate learning difficulties or autistic spectrum disorder. However, many have more complex additional needs, in particular, speech, language and communication needs. Furze Down is a specialist school for communication and interaction. Mobility in the school is much higher than the national average because a sizeable number of pupils join the school at different times, arriving from other schools. The proportion of pupils from ethnic groups other than White British is lower than the national average and most pupils speak English as a first language. The proportion of pupils eligible for support through additional pupil premium funding is a little higher than the national average. The pupil premium is additional government funding provided for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, those looked after by the local authority and those with a parent in the armed services. In this school the pupils receiving additional funding are mostly those known to be eligible for free school meals. The school also receives the literacy and numeracy catch-up premium, which provides schools with additional funding for each Year 7 pupil who did not achieve at least Level 4 (the nationally expected level) in reading and/or mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2. In this school the funding applies to all Year 7 pupils. In common with all schools with primary-age pupils, the school also receives extra funding to improve physical education (PE) and sport. The school is being re-built with a planned completion date of October 2014. Most students in the sixth form were in off-site accommodation during the inspection because of the building work. The school does not use any alternative provision other than work-experience placements for sixth form students.