Doucecroft School still doesn't meet Ofsted standards

Ofsted found Doucecroft School in Eight Ash Green, Colchester, still failed to meet all the independent school standards during its latest monitoring inspection on Thursday, September 10.

Autism Anglia runs the school for pupils aged three to 19 with autism and additional needs, charging annual fees of £65,607 to £95,610.

Inspectors said the school had made “significant progress” since its last inspection, but the changes were too recent to make it fully compliant.

Ofsted said: "Over the past two years, there has been significant turbulence within both the leadership and wider staffing teams.

"This meant that leaders did not have the capacity to improve the school.

"There were many changes of staff at all levels, which had an impact on how well pupils were known by staff and able to meet their individual needs."

The report said standards for the curriculum, safeguarding and teaching were met, but those covering leadership and management remained unmet.

Daniel Lawrence has been Doucecroft’s headteacher for nearly two terms.

Ofsted said: "The senior leadership team has been stabilised and has the time and capacity to monitor, support and further improve teaching across the school.

"The action plan submitted to the Department for Education is being followed precisely."

But inspectors said many changes were still new and their long-term impact could not yet be judged.

Inspectors added that leaders still failed to ensure the independent school standards were met consistently.

Curriculum planning had improved, with leaders consolidating learning pathways and giving older pupils working on early development skills age-appropriate materials.

Teaching was improving, with pupils more engaged in lessons and staff providing better support.

Inspectors saw pupils taking part enthusiastically in physical education and said their English work showed careful thinking about challenging ideas.

They added that all pupils now read or take part in reading activities far more often than before.

A newly appointed phonics lead is now working to further improve staff training and student outcomes in this area.

Well-trained staff and regular safeguarding meetings help keep pupils safe.

The school has strengthened risk assessments and supervision to support pupils and staff.

The proprietor body, Autism Anglia, has invested in classroom improvements and grounds maintenance, and created a trustee sub-committee focused on school performance and action plan progress.

Doucecroft School has capacity for 100 pupils, and currently has 72 enrolled.

The school’s previous standard inspection, in February 2025, was rated "requires improvement", followed by monitoring inspections in September 2025 and March 2026.

Ofsted considered the action plan submitted to the Department for Education in June 2026 to be acceptable.

Doucecroft School said it “welcomed” the findings of its latest Ofsted monitoring inspection.

Mr Lawrence, head teacher of Doucecroft, said: “I am pleased that Ofsted has recognised the progress made by our school community.

"This reflects the commitment of colleagues across the school, the clearer focus of our leadership team and the valuable knowledge and experience brought by new staff.

"We also recognise that some changes are still at an early stage and that there is more work to do to embed them consistently.

"We remain focused on sustaining this progress and delivering the best possible outcomes for every pupil.”

James McQuiggan, CEO of Autism Anglia, said: “It is really encouraging to see the continued progress being made at Doucecroft and for this to be recognised by Ofsted. 

"This reflects the considerable work of the school’s leadership team in delivering the action plan submitted to Ofsted, alongside the contribution of colleagues across the wider charity.

"Together, we have strengthened learning pathways, developed the curriculum, increased opportunities for pupils and introduced new governance arrangements that provide greater openness and oversight.

"My thanks go to everyone at Doucecroft.

"The staff team does a fantastic job, and this is a positive reflection of their hard work, commitment, and determination.”

The previous monitoring inspection recorded a high number of physical intervention incidents in November 2025, although these had declined significantly after leaders analysed them.

That inspection also found that persistent staff absence and turnover had led the school to scale back enrichment activities to prioritise classroom cover.

The full inspection report can be found here.