St Nicholas School is a small special school which caters for Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils who join the school from other special or mainstream schools. All pupils have statements of special educational need for a range of learning needs including cognition and learning difficulties, communication and interaction difficulties and autism spectrum disorder. There have been an increasing number of pupils with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties. Pupils attend the school from Southend-on-Sea and neighbouring areas. A few attend from other local authorities. Most pupils are White British and all speak English as their first language. An above-average number of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium (extra government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority). Pupils in Key Stage 4 attend Writtle College one day a week for work-related courses.