Penn is a non-maintained special school for young people with communication difficulties associated with hearing impairment, autistic spectrum conditions and speech and language difficulties. Around a half of the students are in the sixth form. Half of all students have speech and language difficulties and a quarter have autistic spectrum conditions. The remaining quarter have hearing impairment. Around half of all students have complex conditions involving more than one area. Students are referred to the school from 20 different local authorities. All but three students have a statement of special educational needs or education health care plans. Over two thirds of the students are boys. The proportions of students from a range of ethnic minority heritages and at the early stages of learning English are just above average. Just over two thirds of students are of White British heritage. Just over one in 10 students are eligible for additional government funding, known as the pupil premium. This proportion is below average. The funding is used to support students who are eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after by the local authority. However, two thirds of eligible students do not receive funding currently. Just under one in five students across the school is involved with the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) as a result of their behavioural needs. Sixth form students attend off-site training at Amersham and Wycombe College to study a range of worked-related courses, Berkshire College of Agriculture for land-based studies, Merton College for construction, and SKIDZ for motor vehicle maintenance. The school does not enter students early for examinations. Since the school was placed in special measures, there has been around a 20% turnover in staff.