diff --git a/nextjs-app/components/SecondarySchoolRow.tsx b/nextjs-app/components/SecondarySchoolRow.tsx
index 0477d36..e10ca0a 100644
--- a/nextjs-app/components/SecondarySchoolRow.tsx
+++ b/nextjs-app/components/SecondarySchoolRow.tsx
@@ -55,15 +55,14 @@ export function SecondarySchoolRow({
const ofstedBadge = buildOfstedListBadge(school);
const phase = getPhaseStyle(school.phase);
const att8 = school.attainment_8_score;
- // Special schools / PRUs / AP: Attainment 8 vs the LA average isn't a fair
- // comparison (their pupils have SEND), so drop the delta and the number
- // rather than show them trailing "the average" by design. Attainment 8 is a
- // single 0–80 score with no subject breakdown to test for a placeholder, so
- // this keys off establishment type only — a genuine (if extreme) 0.0 at a
- // mainstream school still shows its real value.
- const att8Comparable = att8 != null && !isSpecialSchool(school);
+ // The school's own Attainment 8 is a same-school figure — shown whenever it
+ // exists (special schools included; their type tag on line 2 gives context).
+ // Only the vs-LA-average delta, a benchmark comparison, is dropped for
+ // special schools / PRUs / AP, whose pupils aren't measured against it fairly.
const laDelta =
- att8Comparable && laAvgAttainment8 != null ? (att8 as number) - laAvgAttainment8 : null;
+ att8 != null && !isSpecialSchool(school) && laAvgAttainment8 != null
+ ? att8 - laAvgAttainment8
+ : null;
const admissionsTag = detectAdmissionsTag(school);
const sixthForm = hasSixthForm(school);
@@ -113,7 +112,7 @@ export function SecondarySchoolRow({
- {att8Comparable ? (att8 as number).toFixed(1) : '—'}
+ {att8 != null ? att8.toFixed(1) : '—'}
Attainment 8
diff --git a/nextjs-app/components/SpecialSchoolNote.module.css b/nextjs-app/components/SpecialSchoolNote.module.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..138b39e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nextjs-app/components/SpecialSchoolNote.module.css
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/* Special-school / PRU / AP context note: soft, informational (teal), not a
+ warning. Shared by both detail views so the styling can't drift. */
+.note {
+ background: var(--bg-secondary, #f3ede4);
+ border-left: 4px solid var(--accent-teal, #2d7d7d);
+ border-radius: 0 6px 6px 0;
+ padding: 0.7rem 1rem;
+ margin: 0 0 1rem;
+ font-size: 0.9rem;
+ line-height: 1.5;
+ color: var(--text-secondary, #5c564d);
+ max-width: 72ch;
+}
+.note strong {
+ color: var(--text-primary, #1a1612);
+}
diff --git a/nextjs-app/components/SpecialSchoolNote.tsx b/nextjs-app/components/SpecialSchoolNote.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f737328
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nextjs-app/components/SpecialSchoolNote.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/**
+ * SpecialSchoolNote — the context note shown on special-school / PRU / AP
+ * detail pages explaining why the mainstream England-average comparison is
+ * dropped. Renders nothing for mainstream schools.
+ *
+ * The copy is type-aware: only genuine special schools have pupils with special
+ * educational needs. Pupil referral units and alternative provision teach
+ * pupils educated outside a mainstream setting (e.g. after exclusion, or for
+ * medical reasons) who are not necessarily SEND — so their note says so rather
+ * than mischaracterising them. Suppressing the England comparison is reasonable
+ * for all three.
+ */
+
+import { isSpecialSchool } from '@/lib/utils';
+import styles from './SpecialSchoolNote.module.css';
+
+type SpecialKind = 'special' | 'pru' | 'ap';
+
+function specialKind(schoolType: string | null | undefined): SpecialKind {
+ const t = (schoolType ?? '').toLowerCase();
+ if (/pupil referral/.test(t)) return 'pru';
+ if (/alternative provision/.test(t)) return 'ap';
+ return 'special';
+}
+
+export function SpecialSchoolNote({ school }: { school: { school_type?: string | null } }) {
+ if (!isSpecialSchool(school)) return null;
+ const kind = specialKind(school.school_type);
+
+ return (
+
+ {kind === 'special' && (
+ <>
+ This is a special school. Its pupils have special educational needs and
+ work towards individual targets. They sit the same national assessments, but very few
+ reach the mainstream “expected standard” these measures report — so a
+ comparison with the England average isn’t a meaningful guide to the school.
+
+ )}
+ {kind === 'pru' && (
+ <>
+ This is a pupil referral unit. It teaches pupils educated outside a
+ mainstream school — for example after exclusion, or for medical or behavioural reasons.
+ The mainstream “expected standard” and the England-average comparison
+ aren’t a meaningful guide to the school.
+
+ )}
+ {kind === 'ap' && (
+ <>
+ This is an alternative provision setting. It teaches pupils educated
+ outside a mainstream school. The mainstream “expected standard” and the
+ England-average comparison aren’t a meaningful guide to the school.
+
+ )}{' '}
+ Where available, the progress its pupils make is a fairer measure.
+
+ );
+}